


Julita and the Phantoms

by WaitingForMyHogwartsLetter



Series: Julitaverse [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Humor, Lita is ALWAYS ready to throw hands, Lita is Julie's cousin, Multi, No beta we die like Sunset Curve, POV Original Female Character, Song Lyrics, especially when caleb is involved, even though he's a ghost, we all aspire to be the level of cool and chaotic that is AJ
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:02:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 61,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27191467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaitingForMyHogwartsLetter/pseuds/WaitingForMyHogwartsLetter
Summary: Shortly after the death of Julie's mom, Rose, Julie's cousin Lita moves in with the Molinas.A little while after that, three adorable ghost boys from the nineties show up and suddenly Lita finds herself in a band with them and her cousin.Luke Patterson x alive!OC
Relationships: Julie Molina & Original Female Character(s), Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s), Ray Molina & Reggie, Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Background Character(s)
Series: Julitaverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032759
Comments: 22
Kudos: 51





	1. With Every Broken Bone, I Swear I Lived

**Author's Note:**

> Title of the fic is pretty self-explanatory. 
> 
> Title of the first chapter is from the song "I Lived" by OneRepublic

I rolled over and smacked my head on the nightstand, forcefully jolting me awake. I grimaced in pain as the light from the blind trickled into the room. As I rubbed my forehead just above my eyebrow, a droplet of blood smeared onto my finger. I sighed, pushing myself up from the bed and walking over to the wardrobe. I pulled open the door and scanned the rows of clothes before finally deciding on a white shirt with a rainbow on it that read “sounds gay, I’m in”, a pale blue flannel shirt, a light grey beanie and a pair of ripped denim jeans. 

When I finally got downstairs, Julie was at the table with a glass of orange juice in one hand and her phone in the other as she scrolled through Twitter. Her eyebrows raised slightly and almost disappeared under her burgundy cap when she saw the cut on my eyebrow and sighed, disappearing to grab the first-aid kit from under the sink without a second glance. 

Carlos shot past me at lightning speed, a pair of jeans in one hand and a hoodie slung over his shoulder as he ran up the stairs and narrowly avoided crashing into me. Julie returned with the first aid kit and sat it down on the table. “I feel like I’m going this every other day,” she said pointedly, and I shrugged as she continued. “I’ve barely been awake for ten minutes, why are you like this?” 

“Not my fault I’m accident-prone. Surprised I’m still alive at this point.”

“You’d make a terrible ghost.”

“I’d make an _excellent_ ghost.”

She shook her head in disbelief as she dabbed at the cut with a wet cotton pad. 

“Right. Obviously. Are you doing your presentation today?”

I changed the subject. “Are you singing today?”

“I’ll know in the moment,” she sighed, refusing to meet my eyes. 

I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “Jules, there’s no rush, but if you love music as much as I know you do, then staying in the music program is something you need. I know it’s hard, but playing songs like the ones she used to sing with you, it keeps her memory alive.” 

Julie put her hand on top of mine on her shoulder, “I know, Li. I know. Thanks.”

“Plus you have a killer voice,” I added. “Like siren singing men and lesbian pirates to their dooms kind of killer voice.”

She smiled, “So do you. There, all done.” Julie packed away the first aid kit and pointed me towards the toaster. “Waffles?”

“Waffles,” I confirmed.

~

I put one earphone in as I made my way through the crowded corridors, a Vistas song in the background as I waved at Flynn before finally stopping to lean against the locker next to my best friend AJ. “Morning.” 

She looked up, shutting her locker and smirking when she noticed the cut above my eyebrow. “Someone’s been busy.” 

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” 

But it wasn’t until she lifted up a piece of hair from in front of her face to reveal an almost identical cut above her left eye that I realised why she was smirking. “In a move straight out of my brother’s playbook, I rolled over in bed this morning and hit the corner of the dresser.”

I grinned, “This. This is why we’re friends.”

“Really?” She joked, “Not my sparkling personality?” But then her face turned serious, “Ready for that oral presentation?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” my mood soured and I ran my hand along the tattoo on the inside of my wrist, a spur of the moment decision from last summer that my mother hated, but I couldn’t seem to find any way to regret it. “Unless, of course, you’re a good enough friend to run me over?” 

AJ laughed, “Yeah, sure. With my driving skills? I’d probably hit the wrong thing, and you know it. Then you’d be alive and doing that presentation, and I’d be in prison for vehicular manslaughter. Where’s the fun in that?” 

“You make a valid point,” I scowled. “Hype up?”

“Hype up,” AJ agreed. “Think we can risk being five minutes late for Miss H’s algebra class?”

“I think it’s time well-spent,” I grinned, and she pulled one of my earbuds out, only pausing to wipe it on my sleeve—which I scowled at her for— before putting it into her ear to listen to the song. _Teenage Blues_ by Vistas started to play and she nodded along to it as we took the long route to class.

_Gone away for a while_

_All the familiar places change_

_But you’re the same_

_What will I be without you?_

~

By the time third period rolled around, the dread had had time to set in and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as I waited. Taking psychology as an elective wasn’t the worst idea I’d ever had, but it wasn’t the best either. There were only so many times I could put off the introduction presentation. We’d each been assigned an approach to research and put together a presentation on as a quick start to the course. 

Mr Parker was late, as per usual, so I had about three minutes left to not die until he showed up and forced me to speak. There were a grand total of twenty-six people in this class. I knew eight of them, and I liked three of them. Those three included AJ, AJ’s brother Ky, and Kayla. Once Mr P arrived, he was just... excitable? Energetic? Well, whatever he was, he had way too much energy for half nine on a Tuesday morning, and it made me nervous before he even called my name. 

My hand rested on the table, tapping out the steady beat of I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. I wished I had my ukulele with me. Or my guitar. Or even a drumstick. My song choice was ironic considering it was not going to be a good night. Not by a long shot. 

Parker locked eyes with me and in that moment, I knew that I was screwed. 

“Lita, care to come up and introduce yourself? I expect you came prepared?”

I shrank back into my seat as all eyes in the room turned to me. 

_I wanted to be anywhere but here. I wanted to be anywhere but here. Anywhere._ _Anywhere but here._ Unfortunately, I had only just been able to snag the last spot in the psychology elective once one of the boys dropped out, which meant coming into class a week later than everyone else, after they had already done their introductions. It might have been easier if they were as nervous as me, but I didn’t have the luxury to find out. 

Reluctantly, I pushed myself out of my seat, my hand tapping a beat against the side of my leg that I wasn’t sure was already from an existing song or something that I had just made up on the spot. If I had made it up, it probably would be a good idea to remember it, but that thought didn’t seem to cross my mind while I shifted uncomfortably in front of the whiteboard.

AJ shot me a thumbs up, but instead of a confident response, I mouthed back the words “help me”. I clenched my hands into fists around the hem of my t-shirt, but it only made me look more awkward. I gave up on that and instead pulled the sleeves of my shirt down over my hands to allow me to curl my fingers tighter without risk of my nails breaking the skin. 

_Anywhere but here. Anywhere but here. Anywhere but here._

“Hi...” my breath seemed to get caught in my throat. “Nope.”

I wasn’t sure what happened, but the next thing I knew there was a crash at the other end of the room and the moment Mr P went over to investigate, the sprinklers turned on and the fire alarm started to wail. Something pulled my sleeve up and grabbed hold of my wrist, their warm skin anchoring me back to reality at the sudden contact. I stared blankly at AJ’s hand, oblivious to the dampness as the sprinkler water slowly soaked my clothes, and the loud blaring of the alarm as she dragged me out of the room and along with the rest of the class to the fire meeting point.

Principal Lessa caught us just as I managed to make eye contact with Julie and we were marched to her office for the disturbance. She gestured for us to sit down and I shared a look with AJ. Not even the comfy “just here for a little chat” seats, the professional seats that she uses for important guests. We were definitely _not_ here for a little chat. 

We came out of the aforementioned “little chat” with a week’s worth of detention for the stunt AJ pulled with the fire alarm to get me out of my presentation. We shared the blame, despite AJ’s protests, because she did it to help me. Plus, with all my free time filled up with music and detention, I wouldn’t have any time to panic over the presentation I would undoubtedly now be doing on Friday. _(That’s called procrastination, kids.)_

AJ and I left the room virtually okay, and ready for lunch. It was only when I was halfway down the corridor that it hit me. “Oh, _fuck_.”

“What?”

“My mom is going to _kill_ me.” 

~

As Julie had spent some of the evening at Flynn’s house, anxious to come home after being kicked out of the music program— I found out after lunch, and promised her that it would be okay, but there was really no way of telling— and I had detention, we arrived back at the same time. 

“You first?” I tried, but she shook her head.

“No way, you first.” 

“You know my mom’s gonna be here soon, I’m a goner,” I pleaded.

“Might as well get some spaghetti before she shows up then,” Julie shrugged.

“How was your presentation?” 

“It went about as well as your music class.” 

We looked at each other for a moment before sighing in unison. 

“Together?”

“Together.” 

I pulled out my key and unlocked the front door. The first thing we did was ditch our bags at the table and grab snacks before attempting to do a piece of homework. Julie pouted at me from behind her calculus textbook and I pulled a face back. “You think I know enough to help? _Me?_ I barely passed that class last year,” I replied to her look pointedly.

Ray came downstairs behind us and her and I shared a look, waiting for the inevitable. “Oh good, you’re home!” He smiled. Smiled. _Did he not know? Or was he trying to play it cool?_ “I was about to go watch Carlos’ game. I’ve had photo shoots all day,” he sighed, “Didn’t even get a chance to eat!” Ray ignored his daughter’s disapproving look at the last comment. “But... I got a phone call today.”

Julie cautiously took off her glasses and placed them down next to her textbook. “Yeah, I figured as much.” It was too early to tell which one of us it was about. 

“Well, it was my Realtor friend.” 

I breathed a sigh of relief, and tried to cover it up by pretending I’d just worked out the answer to a hard question, all-the-while sharing a subtle look with Julie about how we were luckily both in the clear. “Oh, that,” she nodded, encouraging him to go on. 

“Yeah, she said if we’re serious about selling the house then she wants me to take some pictures for the website. Which means we have to do a lot of cleaning and get rid of some stuff. Maybe you two girls could tackle Mom’s studio? You’re the experts... You know Carlos and I wouldn’t know where to begin. If you’re not ready, I can...” 

“No,” Julie cut him off. “It’s alright. Maybe we can try tonight?” She glanced at me and I nodded reassuringly. 

“Tonight works for me.” Once Ray had gone, I studied her carefully. “Jules, are you gonna be okay?” 

“Yeah,” she replied weakly. “Together?” 

“Together.”

~

It was dark by the time Julie and I went out to the garage. We both hesitated by the door. I had been back in here a couple of times, but it felt weird that we were going in here to start clearing the place out. It was hard to imagine someone else using it. Julie’s hand hovered over the double handles before she got up the courage to push both doors open. 

I followed her inside, tracing a light finger across the piano keys. My eyes flickered to the sheet music on the stool but Julie barely paid attention to it as she put it on top of the piano. “I’m sorry, mom,” she whispered. “That I haven’t been in here.”

Everything was left as it was when Rose died. The instruments in the loft, left there by the previous owner when the Molina’s first moved in. The row of guitars. The little keyboard and drum-pad. 

I made my way up to the loft and a CD caught my eye. It was a small black case with a white logo on it reading Sunset Curve. The demo had four songs on it, and I passed it over to Julie to take a look. She put it into the CD player and the first song— _Now or Never_ — started to play.

_1, 2, 3_

_Take off, blast off_

_Count down til we blast open the top_

_Face first, full charge_

It wasn’t even the end of the first verse when the sound of shouts filled the studio. I took the steps down from the loft two at a time to see what was going on, just in time to see the horrified look on Julie’s face as the boys appeared out of nowhere and hit the ground with a thud. The demo stopped playing as the guys gasped for air and leant on each other to get up from the ground.

The guy in the middle looked around in confusion. “Woah. How did we get back here?” That was when Julie started to scream. It wasn’t long before the guys joined in the screaming and she shot out of the studio, almost slamming into her dad as he and Carlos arrived back. 

I stared at the newcomers, surprisingly the first person to recover enough to speak. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the most productive use of words. “Well...” 

I could just about hear from outside the conversation between Ray and Julie. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” “I have!” Before she started screaming again and ran inside. I stayed in the studio, staring at the boys. 

We stood there holding intense eye contact for the five minutes it took for Julie to return, no one daring to break it, and each theory my mind came up with was crazier than the last. When I heard Julie’s footsteps I turned around to see her, and she was advancing into the studio with a cross held out in front of her. “Where’d they go?” She hissed.

I frowned. What did she mean? But when I turned around, the three guys were gone. I blinked. “So this is a thing that is happening.”

“I know I saw something, I’m not crazy,” Julie muttered, and I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince me or herself. 

“You’re not crazy, I definitely saw them too. Whatever the hell they were... The point is, we’re not crazy.”

An unfamiliar voice chimed in from behind us, “Well, we’re all a little crazy.” 

Julie spun around and started screaming again, and one of the boys—the blond one— visibly winced. “Oh my God! Please stop screaming!” 

“Who the hell are you?” I glared at them. “And what are you doing in my Aunt’s studio?” 

“Your Aunt’s studio?” The boy in the middle stepped forwards, apparently in charge. “This is our studio. Trust me—“ he got cut off as Julie pushed the cross towards him, causing him to skid across the piano in an attempt to avoid getting hit with it. “The grand piano is new, and... and... and... my couch!” The boy flopped onto the couch and inhaled loudly as the springs quaked under the force of his entrance. He looked around in confusion a moment later, “But... that is definitely not my six-string.” 

I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s not. It’s mine.” 

Julie watched them cautiously, “We’ll ask again. What are you doing in my mom’s studio?” 

The boy stepped forwards, narrowly avoiding Julie’s outstretched arm and the cross, and he dodged away from me to return to his two friends. “Just give me a second. Just... give me a second. Thank you.”

He wasn’t exactly subtle, as soon as he started talking we could hear the whole conversation. Julie and I shared a suspicious look as we eavesdropped. 

“Guys, what is going on? How did they get their stuff in here so fast?” 

The boy in the leather jacket eyed the decor weirdly, “Maybe... maybe they’re witches. There’s chairs floating on the ceiling!” 

I mean, personally, I always thought those were a little questionable, but I never said anything on the subject. 

The boy with the snapback rolled his eyes, “Okay, there is no such thing as witches.”

Leather jacket raised an eyebrow, “You sure? I used to think there was no such thing as ghosts.” 

“That’s fair.”

“Okay,” boy-in-charge decided, “So we’re going with witches?”

Snapback swatted his arm and sighed, “No we are not going with _witches_. Okay, look, they’re probably just scared. Let someone with a softer touch handle this.” 

Julie’s scared. Honestly I’m more confused at this point.

“Why are you in our studio?” He whirled around and asked, and I folded my arms. 

“This isn’t your studio,” I reminded him, as Julie reached forwards and plunged the cross into his chest. It moved straight through him. Maybe they _were_ ghosts? Ghosts, in my Aunt’s music studio? Apparently more likely than you’d think.

“Oh my gosh... how did you do that?” Her eyes widened in horror.

“Clearly, you’re not understanding,” Snapback turned towards his friends to keep them in the loop. “She doesn’t get it.” Before turning back to Julie. “Okay, look, we’re ghosts. We’re just three ghosts, and we’re really happy to be home. So, thank you for the flowers. They really brighten up the room.”

Boy-in-charge stepped in and supplied, “We’re in a band called Sunset Curve.”

Leather-jacket-and-plaid— that boy’s gotta be bi. No straight person wears plaid _and_ leather at the _same time_. I wonder if he cuffs his jeans? Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked— added, “Tell your friends.” 

“Right,” I acknowledged, “But—” _no matter how cute y’all are_ — “Doesn’t explain why you’re in our garage?” _Sunset Curve._ Why did that ring a bell? Other than the CD we put in that managed to summon them here.

“Last night was going to be a really big night for us. It was gonna change our lives…” boy-in-charge trailed off. 

I pulled out my phone, determined to get to the bottom of this _Sunset Curve_ business as snapback whispered to his friend, “I’m, uh… I’m pretty sure it _did._ ”

Julie glanced at me, leaning over my shoulder as I typed their band name into google. “This…. is freaking me out.” 

“This… is not the weirdest thing I’ve seen this week,” I muttered half-under my breath, waiting for the page to load. 

“It’s Tuesday, Li.” 

“I know.” 

“What is that?” One of the boys asked, looking at the phone warily. 

“My phone?” I replied, raising an eyebrow.

Snapback leaned forwards, “Who you calling?” 

Julie shook her head as the page finally loaded, “Stop talking to them. They aren’t real. There’s no such thing as cute ghosts.” 

“You think we’re cute?” Leather-jacket-and-plaid’s face broke into a grin and I suppressed a smile. Glad to know Jules and I were on the same page about that at least. 

“We’re googling Sunset Swerve,” Julie told them. 

“Sunset _Curve_ ,” all three boys corrected her simultaneously. 

The page finally loaded and I managed to control the degree of surprise plastered on my face, forcing my eyebrows back to a normal height as I read the headline. “Right, so there is a Sunset Curve, and y’all did die. But that was in ‘95, and it’s kind of 2020 now. You’ve been dead like 25 years…” 

_Way to soften the blow, Lita._ Yeah, yeah, I know.

Leather-jacket-and-plaid looked like he’d seen a ghost, which was ironic in the current circumstance. “That’s impossible! All we did was eat those hotdogs and then go to that weird, dark room where Alex cried.”

Okay, so judging by his response that meant that “Snapback”’s real name was Alex. He immediately went on the defensive. “ _Well…_ I think we were _all_ pretty upset.”

Boy-in-charge frowned, “But that was just for like an hour? We just showed up here.”

I held out the phone so they could read it for themselves. I was almost tempted to say “Read it and weep” as I did so, but a part of me thought that would be unfair on Snapback Alex, as he seemed to have already been doing that for the last twenty-five years or so. Instead, I shrugged and said. “Look, it’s all here.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “So it’s really been twenty-five years? I have been _crying_ for _TWENTY FIVE YEARS?_ How is that possible?” 

“You’re a very emotional person?” Leather-jacket-and-plaid tried to reason with him. 

“I am _not!_ ”

Ha. Mood.

Before they could answer, Carlos walked in. “Dinner’s ready. You talking to your ghost friend? How does he look, is he hideous?”

Alex glanced at leather-and-plaid on his right, smirking. “He can see you.” 

“No, he can’t,” Julie cut in, but Carlos was already looking around in confusion. She covered it up by saying, “We’ll be in in a minute.”

Once he’d gone, she eyed the boys cautiously. “He couldn’t see you.”

“That’s usually how ghosts work,” Alex pointed out. 

Damn, the sass levels on this kid were _high._ I like him already. I paused for a second, trying to think about it rationally. “If Carlos couldn’t see you… why the fuck can we?” 

“ _Language_ ,” Julie warned, in the exact tone my mom uses. I shuddered and raised my hands in surrender as she sighed exasperatedly and turned towards the ghosts. “Look, I’m sorry for what happened to you guys, but this isn’t your studio anymore. You have to leave.” 

I shrugged, “The stuff’s yours, the place isn’t. Take whatever used to belong to you.” 

Boy-in-charge caught us before we could go, “Wait! We didn’t get your names.” 

“It’s Julie.” 

“Lita. Hey,” I shot finger guns from next to her, fully aware of my own cringiness. 

“Cool, I’m—” he got slightly cut off as Julie raised the cross in a warning. “I’m Luke, by… by the way. And this is—”

“Reggie. I’m Reggie. Hey,” leather-jacket-and-plaid waved.

“Alex. How’s it going?” He trailed off.

There was a soft “badaa…” as Luke gestured to the three of them. 

I nodded, unsure of how to reply as I turned to Julie. “Food?” 

“Food,” she sighed, lowering the cross and letting me throw an arm around her shoulders as we walked out. 

“By the way, I like your t-shirt!” Alex called after me. I didn’t turn around, instead giving him a thumbs up as I walked into the house. 

~

We finished laying the table and I collapsed into a seat. Taking Carlos’ hand on one side and Ray’s on the other, Carlos began to say grace. 

“Thank you for our leftovers and the power of the mighty microwave,” he announced firmly. “Amen.” 

“Amen,” I laughed as I started to serve myself some of the spaghetti. 

“So…” Ray started, “Carlos says he found you two in the studio.” 

Before anyone could answer, I had the overwhelming feeling that I was about to be grounded for life. “She’s here,” I warned, the faint sound of the car pulling up being the only thing I could focus on. 

As if she’d been summoned, my mom’s voice echoed through the door as she unlocked it. “Hello hello!” 

“Busted…” Carlos muttered, hiding the place setting that had been left out for Rose before mom had a chance to come in. Julie put the plate on her lap and Ray tossed the mat across the kitchen just as she came in. 

“We’re in here!” Ray called out.

“Spaghetti. Again? That’s too bad… I brought you my _pasteles_ and arroz con pollo.” 

“Smells great, ma,” I feigned a smile, waiting for the hammer to come down. 

“If I let you have leftovers every night, my sister would kill me. May she rest in peace. Lita… a word in the other room?”

_Here it comes._

_I’m grounded for life._

“Could it wait until after dinner?” I pleaded, glancing at the spaghetti on my plate. She answered with her eyebrows and I sighed, grabbing another plate and flipping it on top of my food to keep it warm. “Pray for me,” I hissed at Julie, who almost choked on her spaghetti as she held back laughter. 

We hovered in the living room, my mom the first one to break the silence. “I got a call from the school today. About an incident with the _fire alarm._ ” 

_Busted…_

“It’s really not as serious as it sounds… I mean, can we even call it an ‘incident’? It was just a one-time—”

 _“Carmelita—”_

_Ouch. Full name. So screwed. So very screwed._

“It won’t happen again, I promise. I panicked about the presentation and AJ managed to get me out of it. I’ll work on it and everything will be fine,” I pleaded. “If it ever happens again you can ground me for the rest of high school?” 

She sighed, “Fine, but you better not miss a single one of those detentions, _mija_ ,” before pulling me into a bone-crushing hug in the way only she could. “Are you sure it’ll _never_ happen again?” 

Luke chose that moment to appear out of nowhere, barely three feet away from us. “Nice couch. Do you think you could point me towards the kitchen?” 

“ _No!_ ” I hissed. 

“No?” Mom pulled away, confused. 

“Not _you_ , no! I mean, yes! I mean… thanks for bringing us food?” 

She seemed to temporarily buy the distraction enough to go back in the other room, barely noticing me silently arguing with Luke under my breath. When I sat back down at the table, the other two boys walked in and Julie yelped when she saw them, causing them to freeze awkwardly. 

“As I was saying,” Luke grinned at Julie. “I really like what you guys did with the place.” 

“You shouldn’t be here!” she protested, causing my mom to raise her eyebrows in confusion.

“Oh, I’m just here to help, _mija_.” 

I tried to save the conversation, “What Julie meant to say is ‘you shouldn’t be here’ because you should be at pilates! Thanks for bringing us food.”

“I think this is our cue to leave,” Alex nudged the others. 

“We should’ve called first,” Reggie agreed.

I subtly tried to angle my head in the direction of the door, prompting them to leave, and the trio slowly backed out through it, their bodies phasing through the wood.

My mom put a hand on Julie’s shoulder, “And now that you’re no longer in the music program, you can focus on classes that matter. The same cannot be said for my daughter, of course.” Both Carlos’ and Ray’s eyes widened at the news and Julie froze as the table grew silent. “You got the email from the school, right?” She prompted.

Ray smiled as he lied, “Yeah… we’re still _discussing_ it.”

Mom blew a kiss at Carlos before pulling Julie and I into a hug and kissing the top of our heads. “Well, I should be going to pilates, call if you need anything.” 

As soon as she was gone, Carlos tried to revive the conversation in an attempt to get the focus away from Julie. “So… you guys wanna hear about how I slid into home and was almost safe?” 

“You’re a good brother, but that’s not gonna work,” Ray sighed, gesturing towards the couch.

“You too, Lita. I need to have a one-to-one with Julie.”

 _“Sorry,”_ I mouthed as I grabbed my plate and joined Carlos on the couch. 

Carlos finished a mouthful of spaghetti before nudging me, “So… _Tía_ isn’t the most _subtle_ of people. What exactly happened with the fire alarm?” 

Before I had a chance to answer, the house was filled with music as the studio lit up. The volume seemed to be on maximum and Carlos shot up to investigate. Julie and I locked eyes as we both realised who was playing it. _Goddamn Sunset Curve._

“We must’ve left the CD player on,” Julie lied, making her way towards the door. 

Ray frowned as I joined her, “And it needs _both_ of you to turn it off?” 

“It needed neither of us to turn itself back on?” I tried, “So I wouldn’t rule it out.” 

~

We dashed into the garage to try and stop the guys from playing. Well, in any other circumstances I wouldn’t have wanted to stop them, considering they were actually pretty good, but Ray and Carlos could walk in at any moment and see the instruments _floating_ and that could cause a few issues. Or at least, that’s what I assumed they’d be able to see, considering both Julie and I could see the guys. 

She tried to shut them off by standing in front of them and gesturing to cut it out. “Guys! The whole neighbourhood could hear you! I thought I told you to leave?”

The pick fell from Luke’s hands as all the boys were shocked by the new information. “Wait. People can hear us play?”

“Yes! And so did my dad, and my brother!” She complained. 

Alex came out from behind the drum set and Reggie and Luke both set down their guitars. “Wait,” Alex tried to summarise. “So only you two can see us, but everyone can hear us? I mean, what kind of ghosts are we?”

“Who cares, man? People can hear us play!” Luke cheered.

“We might be dead, but our music isn’t,” Reggie pumped his fist.

I grabbed Luke’s guitar before he noticed, throwing the strap over my neck as Ray came in. 

“ _Hey…_ ” I waved at him. “Just… vibing to the music… which we just turned off…” 

“Dad! Hey! That CD player has a mind of its own,” Julie lied, rubbing the back of her neck. 

“Just making sure you’re okay,” Ray smiled, before he caught sight of the equipment. “Wow, look at all this stuff! Is this the junk that was in the loft?”

“ _Junk?_ ” Luke spluttered, visibly offended.

“I was testing it out,” I pulled out the first excuse I could, strumming a few chords. “Nice equipment.”

“Hey!” Luke complained, “Stop touching that!” 

“If you don’t want to get discovered, let me hold this for two more minutes,” I hissed out of the corner of my mouth. 

Ray frowned, “What was that?” 

“I said… it’s great to get all of this uncovered, isn’t it?” 

“Nice save,” Reggie gave me a thumbs up. 

Ray moved towards the drums, tapping each of them and whistling in approval. “Some of this stuff’s in pretty good shape.” He ran his fingers around the symbols, much to Alex’s dismay. “Maybe we could make a couple bucks?” 

“What? Yo, stop touching my drums!” Alex gestured frantically, “Tell him to stop touching my drums!”

Oblivious to Alex’s complaints, Ray walked around to the front of the drum set. “I liked that music you had on.” 

“Sweet!” Reggie grinned.

Luke sidled up to Ray, despite the fact that my uncle couldn’t hear him. “We’re Sunset Curve.”

“Tell your friends,” Reggie added.

“We found an old CD,” Julie explained. 

“It’s nice that you’re listening to music,” Ray smiled. “Out here you can play whatever you want, whenever you want.” He gestured around, his hands going through the torsos of both Reggie and Luke. 

“That’s nice!” Reggie remarked. 

“Stay out of this,” Julie hissed at him. 

Ray, thinking she was talking to him, frowned. “I-I’m sorry honey, I didn’t…”

“Not you,” Julie sighed, “Just—” she tried to find the words, “Give me a minute.”

He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her into a hug before he left, “Hey, we’re gonna figure out this music program thing.” 

“Thanks, Dad,” she sighed, watching him go. 

I walked over and rested my arm on her shoulder, “Besides, the school would be _nuts_ to take a spot away from _Julie Molina_. They all know you’re gonna be big someday.”

Luke’s face broke into a grin the moment Ray had gone, “He likes our song!” 

“Doesn’t count,” Alex shrugged, explaining. “He’s a dad.” 

I snorted at that, and tried to cover it up and failed. 

Julie groaned, “Why can’t you guys just be normal ghosts? Hang out at an old mansion! I hear Pasadena’s nice.” She let out another groan before marching out of the studio. I moved to go after her but Luke appeared in front of me. 

“Wait, let me—”

I walked through him to get to the door, and as I did so a weird sensation rushed through me. I shivered, looking back at him. _Woah._ So that’s what it feels like to walk through a ghost. Luke stared at me for a second, deep in thought, except he managed to recover first and poofed out of the studio to talk to Julie. 

“That… that was weird,” I gestured vaguely. “That was all kinds of weird.” 

“I think Julie’s warming up to us,” Alex smiled hopefully. “What about you?” 

“I think you guys probably picked the wrong house to haunt,” I sighed. “But I could probably get used to having you around.” 

“I’ve always wanted to go to Pasadena,” Reggie announced.

I glanced at the spot where Luke was. “So I have to ask, I’ve seen that exact tee on a vintage website… Did he cut the sleeves off himself? Or…” 

“No, yeah, totally,” Alex shrugged, his eyes flicking to the window. “Heys, should we check on them?”

“Yeah.”

I pushed open the door as the guys walked through either side of me. That was definitely going to take some getting used to. We arrived just in time to hear Julie say “ _Was._ She passed away.”

Luke’s expression softened, “I— I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, we… we didn’t know,” Alex added comfortingly. 

“It’s alright,” she sighed. 

“You guys haven’t seen her anywhere, have you? Wherever—” I gestured vaguely— “Wherever you’re from?”

Alex shook his head, “No. I mean, you’re sort of the first people we’ve seen.”

“Yeah, but they’re not dead so that doesn’t really answer the ques—”

“I think she gets that, Reg.” Alex offered a sympathetic smile, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” I echoed Julie, shifting uncomfortably. 

“Sorry I got mad,” she apologised to the guys. “You guys are kinda good.”

Luke’s voice rose a couple of octaves. “ _Kinda?_ You know that’s like 25 years of rust just getting dusted off, right?” He mimed physically dusting it off. 

“Yeah,” Reggie added. “Is that your piano?” 

“No, I don’t play. That’s my mom’s stuff in there. Lita does, but we haven’t really touched _that_ grand in a while…” 

I shrugged, “I have a keyboard in my bedroom that I use instead.” 

“No way, your mom is an amazing songwriter,” Luke shook his head in disbelief. 

“She was,” I agreed.

“Yeah…” Julie trailed off, “Wait, how would you know?” 

“There’s a song on the piano,” he explained. “If it’s hers… your mom was really talented.”

 _Ah, so they’d discovered_ Wake Up. _Figures._

Julie sighed, giving in to the silence for a minute before replying, “I guess… if you guys need a place to stay, you can stay in there.”

“You already know about the couch, I’m guessing,” I shrugged. “And there’s a shower in the back. Although I don’t see how you’ll need any of it.” 

“Dibs on the shower!” Reggie shouted, before pausing to elaborate. “I just really like showers. And sometimes the occasional bath.” 

Julie blinked. “This… this is just _too_ weird. I’m gonna head out.”

The guys grinned, celebrating while I rolled my eyes. 

“I’ll see y’all, I guess,” I shrugged, giving them a mock salute as I headed inside.

~

I lay flat on my back on the bed, scrolling through the news article detailing the tragic deaths of _Sunset Curve._ I also practically had their demo album (which someone had uploaded to SoundCloud) on repeat so much that I could probably play Now or Never on the electric guitar if I tried hard enough, since it seemed to only include four chords. 

I desperately wanted to try. 

Then again, I also had been desperate to try out playing ~~any~~ all of the songs in the new Vistas album.

Of course, that meant I was met with a problem. 

I’d have to sneak into the studio. Sneaking into the studio involved making my way quietly past Ray and Julie’s bedrooms to get to the stairs, not waking up Carlos going _down_ the stairs, and then on the chance I did manage to get into the studio at half past midnight, I was risking running into the three ghosts who, presumably, aren’t able to sleep. 

Yeah, I’ll cross _that_ bridge when I get to it.

In the meantime, I just had to focus on getting down. I unlocked the window and judged the distance from there to the trellis. This wasn’t the first time I’d done this, so it was unlikely something really bad would happen, and it wouldn’t be the last. I grabbed my notebook and tucked it under my chin after putting my guitar pick between my teeth so I wouldn’t lose it. 

Slowly, I lowered myself out so that my feet were resting firmly on top of the trellis. I was about to climb down when a newly familiar voice distracted me. 

“Whatcha doing?” _Luke._

“You know, if you’d scared me I could have fallen and _died_. I think you’re familiar with the concept?” I rolled my eyes, starting to descend the trellis.

“You didn’t freak out when I poofed in earlier, thought I’d take my chances. Besides, you seem like a fun person to _hang out_ with.” 

I rolled my eyes again, even though he couldn’t see it. _Sure,_ make puns about hanging when I’m dangling out the side of my house. The next words were muffled slightly thanks to the guitar pick still between my teeth, but I think he got the point. “You’re not funny,” I replied, trying to hide my smile. 

“I’m _pretty_ funny.” 

“ _Pretty_ damn annoying.” 

I let go of the trellis and dropped the final few feet, the impact causing the book to slip. Luke caught it before it hit the ground, intrigued. 

“What’s this?”

I sighed, “Hand it over.” Before he got the chance, the book fell through his hands as they shimmered. He cursed, reaching for it only for them to pass through it again. I picked it up and tucked it under my arm. “Are you guys gonna mind if I use the studio for a bit?”

“We were planning on going out into Hollywood until dawn because we can do that now, since we’re ghosts,” Luke explained. 

I unlocked the door and pushed it shut behind me as Luke phased through it. I watched for a second, wondering what it was like to be intangible. “Is it weird just being able to walk through walls?” 

“It’s a lot more fun than walking into them?” He supplied, and I let out a short laugh. 

“Right.” 

“So which of this stuff is yours?” Luke gestured to the instruments. 

I pointed at a black and turquoise bass guitar, “That one…” then the tie-dye effect blue, purple and pink electric guitar on the wall, “There…” and then finally the acoustic that Luke had noticed when he first arrived. “And that. And, like I said, I’ve got a keyboard in my room. I’ve also got a couple of ukuleles up there. Jules helped me decorate one of them.”

“Rad,” he whistled. 

Before I could ask Luke a question in return, Alex and Reggie poofed back into the studio. Alex stumbled backwards in surprise at the fact that it was close to one in the morning and I was alive and awake, but he recovered quickly. “Lita, hey. Luke, you ready to go?” 

“Yeah,” he nodded, wrapping an arm around both of his friends’ shoulders as I plugged my electric guitar into the amp and then connected my headphones. I set my phone up on the side with the chords for the new vistas album. 

“Oh, guys?” I caught them before they left, and Luke was the first to spin back around, turning the other two with him. “If you ever want catching up on some of the music you missed in the past twenty-five years…” I gestured to the studio and towards the house, letting out a weak laugh. “You know where I live.”

Luke grinned, “Alright, I’m holding you to that  _ Carmelita _ .”

I scowled at him. He didn’t have full name privileges just yet. 

“Hey Lita, how do you feel about country—” Reggie got cut off as the other two poofed out of the studio, taking him with them as I shook my head, laughing in disbelief and turning my attention back to the music. The first song I tried,  _ 15 Years _ was one of my new favourites. (Yes, this is the album that  _ Teenage Blues _ is from). 

_Bright lights, this city_

_I know I got it in me_

_To find the words to say_

_Please sing them back to me_

_And you_

_Were always on my mind_


	2. Curtains Open, Scared To Get Up On The Stage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie sings for the first time,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from "Symphony" by Sheppard

This time, when I rolled over I didn’t hit the dresser. A good start, at least. But I was leaning half across the bed with apparently no intention of crawling under the covers when I collapsed there at three in the morning. The window was still open, the sun barely edging its way through the blinds but the sound of the birds and the occasional car was still enough to rouse me from my half-asleep state. That, and the soft piano that started just after I opened my eyes. 

I knew that tune. 

Rose taught me to play the intro on the ukulele for when I get anxious. 

_Someone was playing Wake Up._

It was kind of fitting that I woke up to Rose’s song _Wake Up._ As soon as I recognised it, I slid off the bed and made my way towards the window to hear it better just as Julie started singing. 

_Here’s the one thing_

_I want you to know_

_You got some place to go_

I could practically start crying. _This_ was what I meant when she had a killer voice. Barely paying attention to what I was grabbing, I pulled on a shirt and jeans, listening to her sing. 

_Life’s a test, yes_

_But you go toe-to-toe_

_You don’t give up_

_No, you grow_

I stuffed my books into my bag and slung it across my back, choosing to put yesterday’s beanie back on over my hair instead of taming it. 

_And you use your pain_

_‘Cause it makes you you_

_Though I wish I could hold you through it_

_I know it’s not the same_

_You got living to do_

_And I just want you to do it_

_“So get up, get out, relight that spark, you know the rest by heart,”_ I hummed to myself as I slid down the bannister, desperate to hear her better. 

_Wake up, wake up_

_If it’s all you do_

_Look out, look inside of you_

_It’s not what you lost_

_It’s what you’ll gain raising your voice to the rain_

_Wake up your dream and make it true_

_Look out, look inside of you_

_It’s not what you lost_

_Relight that spark time to come out of the dark_

I slid through the already open front door of the house and ditched my bag on one of the outdoor chairs as I leant on the fence next to Carlos, grinning. Julie was the most talented person I know, and I’m in the goddamn music program where you _have_ to be talented to get in. Well, then again, _I_ managed to get in, so I’m not sure how much that judgement is worth.

_Wake up_

_Wake up_

_Better wake those demons_

_Just look them in the eye_

_No reason not to try_

_Life can be a mess_

_I won’t let it cloud my mind_

_I’ll let my fingers fly_

_And I use the pain_

_‘Cause it’s part of me_

_And I’m ready to power through it_

_Gonna find the strength_

_Find the melody_

_‘Cause you showed me how to do it_

_Get up, get out, relight that spark_

_You know the rest by heart_

_Wake up, wake up_

_If it’s all you do_

_Look out, look inside of you_

_It’s not what you lost_

_It’s what you’ll gain raising your voice to the rain_

_Wake up your dream and make it true_

_Look out, look inside of you_

_It’s not what you lost_

_Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark_

_Wake up_

_Wake up_

_So wake that spirit, spirit_

_I wanna hear it, hear it_

_No need to fear it, you’re not alone_

_You’re gonna find your way, oh_

_Wake up, wake up_

_If it’s all you do_

_Look out, look inside of you_

_It’s not what you lost_

_It’s what you’ll gain raising your voice to the rain_

_Wake up your dream and make it true_

_Look out, look inside of you_

_When you feel lost_

_Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark_

_Wake up_

_Wake up_

By the time she finished, I realised my cheeks were wet with tears. I grabbed my bag again and marched towards the studio, passing the guys arguing on the way in. On the bright side, that meant that I didn’t dream that there were ghosts living in Rose’s studio. Wait, _was_ that a bright side? Too early to tell. 

“Morning,” I waved, barely looking at them as I pushed the door open, dropping my bag next to the piano as I grabbed Julie and pulled her into a hug. “I have to say, Jules, _wow._ ” Whatever she replied with was muffled by the shirt that her face was buried in, but I didn’t exactly mind. “You are the most amazing, talented person I know, and if Lessa doesn’t let you back into the music program I will physically fight her.” 

She let out a soft laugh, leaning her head against my side. “You don’t need to fight the Principal for me, Li.” 

“I don’t know, she’s short - I could probably take her.” 

Flynn practically took the door off its hinges as she burst through it, her eyes damp with tears. “Jules, we need to talk,” she announced. “Carlos told me I could find you in here.”

“Are you okay?” Julie asked her friend, concerned.

“No, I’m _not_ okay! You just got kicked out of music!” Flynn replied, leaning against the piano. “I’ve been up _all night_ thinking about what I was going to say. Might’ve drank seven sodas, but… I need to get this out.” 

“Wait, I have something to tell you—” Julie tried to speak, but she was cut off. 

“No, it’s my turn to talk.” 

I realised this would probably take a while and slowly backed out of the garage. “I’ll give you some space. See you at school, and y’all better tell me about whatever game plan we’re using to get Jules back in the music program. My offer to fight Lessa still stands,” I called out as I left. 

Regular people probably would’ve jumped at the sight of three ghosts very _obviously_ eavesdropping just around the corner. But then again, AJ tried to start a YouTube prank channel in freshman year, and it’s taken a lot to surprise me after all of those jump-scares. 

“Are you eavesdropping?” I raised an eyebrow at the three boys, who were trying and failing to act casual. “Okay. Sure.” 

“Julie has a _killer_ voice,” Reggie let out a breath, practically in a trance. 

Luke quirked an eyebrow at me. “Julie isn’t the only one in that family that can sing.” 

I narrowed my eyes at him, “Wait, were you eavesdropping last night after I thought you’d left! Not cool, dude.” 

“Only for like the first…” Luke shrugged, “Two? Four? Five songs?” As a reflex, I reached out to thwack him in the arm but was met with only air. _Ghost._ _Damn it._ He frowned. “I don’t know why you thought that would work.” 

“Sorry, the rest of my friends are _living_ , and if they annoy me as much as you do then usually they get a light swat because of it,” I replied with a huff. 

“Hey,” Julie waved as she came out of the studio with Flynn, and the fact that I was still standing next to the guys gave her the cover of being allowed to wave at them without Flynn being seriously concerned for her. 

“Don’t worry, we weren’t listening!” Reggie waved back at her, earning himself a light kick from Luke. 

I laughed, shaking my head slightly before following Julie and Flynn back up the drive. I paused to turn back to the boys, adopting a warning tone. “Julie will be back at four, I’ll be back later because I have detention. Don’t do anything stupid, and _please_ don’t haunt Ray. Oh, and don’t touch my stuff.” 

~

My class filed into the music room for first period just as Julie and Flynn were leaving, and by the looks on their faces, they hadn’t had good news. I marched up to Mrs Harrison and folded my arms, “ _Please_ tell me Julie isn’t still kicked out of music?” 

“My hands are tied, Lita,” she sighed. “Principal Lessa has made it clear that there are only so many spots, and the newest student starts tomorrow.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” I pleaded.

“I’m sorry, she’ll just have to reapply next semester.” 

I groaned, letting my head hang low as I sat down in my regular chair on the second row. AJ slid into the seat next to me on one side, and Ky sat on the other. “I saw you in the hallway in a good mood like ten minutes ago, what changed?” AJ asked, nudging me in the arm with her pen. 

“Julie sang for the first time in almost a _year_ but Mrs H still won’t let her back in the music program because all the spots are gone,” I complained, shooting the teacher’s back a glare, even though it was unfair and I knew she would let Julie back in if she had the spots. “Stupid maximum student limit. Ugh, who’s even performing today?” 

“Me. Literally me. Your best friend,” AJ waved a hand in front of my face. “How could you forget? Damn, how much sleep _are_ you running on?” 

Ky leant forwards, swatting his sister’s hand away from my face. “Also me, your _other_ best friend and the superior one at that. I’m also up today.”

“My bad, guys, I spaced. I’m sure you’ll nail it.” 

“Oh we will,” she smirked. “Did you practice?” 

Ky shrugged. “Nope. I’m just gonna do what I always do in this class. Wing it, and look good doing it.” 

“ _Slacker_ ,” AJ muttered under her breath. 

“ _Dork_ ,” he shot back. 

I rolled my eyes, forced to mediate between them. “Alright, alright, so who’s first?” 

Before I got an answer, Mrs Harrison turned her attention to the class and asked the same question, and the lesson had officially started. As the second person to perform, AJ ditched her jacket on her chair and picked up her bass guitar to play _Johny_ by Sofi Tukker.

~

For the fourth time in the past twenty minutes, I woke up as my head hit the desk. Not only was detention one of the most boring things on the planet, but suffering through detention with only four hours of sleep made it even less fun. 

AJ glanced at me from where she was doodling on the side of her desk. “You seem more tired than usual,” she pointed out.

“Really?” I rolled my eyes as I tapped my own pencil against my notebook. “Hadn’t noticed.”

“Were you up all night binging Netflix or something?” She suggested, “I mean, I finished The Good Place for the third time two nights ago, so I _can_ relate.”

I laughed, shaking my head and watching as the doodle on the edge of my page started to take the shape of a small ghost. “You really wanna know? Fine. I’m exhausted because three teenage ghosts from a band that died in the nineties are living in my garage and I had to wait until they’d gone out for the night so I could play my guitar without feeling self-conscious.”

AJ quirked an eyebrow, studying me for a minute. “Fine, don’t tell me. But you should write that down— sounds like a wicked novel idea.”

My head dropped down onto the desk again, and I rested it on my arm to get comfier as my other hand slowly added details to the ghost. “Sure, AJ. Good idea.”

~

Homework can wait. Homework can wait until after I’ve had a nap. Or food— whichever comes first. I dropped my bag in the living room as I closed the front door behind me, and nudged Carlos’ shoes off the arm of the couch on my way to my bedroom. I stopped midway up the stairs for a second at the sound of voices coming from Julie’s room and changed direction, leaning in her doorway as I arrived in time to catch the full extent of their conversation. 

“This... _This_ can’t happen. It’s creepy,” she glared at Reggie, “Can you get off my bed, please?” 

Reggie complied, rolling off the bed and hitting the floor with a thud that seemed a little too loud for someone who was supposed to be a ghost. Luke watched Julie’s dream box, intrigued in the same way he had been last night— right before he dropped my notebook. 

“What’s in the box?” He asked, reaching for it only for his hand to close around air, fingers disappearing as he tried to grab it. 

“That’s off-limits!” Julie told him sternly. 

He chuckled, “Oh. Oh, okay. Girl stuff.” 

Julie huffed and folded her arms as Reggie sent her a knowing look. “Oh, like butterflies and glitter?” 

“Oh, come on,” Alex shook his head. “I’m sorry about them.” He looked up and saw me leaning in the doorway, “Hey. How was detention?” 

“Boring. Exhausting. Slept through most of it,” I confessed, kicking off my sneakers and flopping face-down onto Julie’s bed. 

Reggie frowned, “Hey! How come she gets to lie on your bed?” 

“ _She_ lives here?” I suggested, although the sounds came out slightly muffled by the duvet. I rolled onto my back and spread my arms and legs out like a starfish as I yawned. 

Alex walked over, a picture frame balanced in his hands before it slipped from his grasp and hit the bed next to me, causing me to sit upright. “I finally picked something up! Never mind. Dropped it.” 

Luke peered over at it. “Is that your mom?” 

“Yes,” Julie snatched it away from their grasp before they could get a good enough look. “And it’s my _favourite_ picture of us, so if you break it then I’ll break _you._ ” 

Alex pushed off from the bed, “Okay, well, sorry because we’re kind of unbreakable at this point.” 

I raised an eyebrow in challenge, “You willing to bet on that?” 

Reggie edged the box he was sitting on slightly away from the bed. “No ma’am.” 

“That’s what I thought,” I smirked, collapsing backwards once more. 

I glanced at the photo frame and remembered Luke’s hands passing through the book last night. “What confuses me is that you can mess up Jules’ bed— yes, before you say anything I’m fully aware of what I’m doing right now— and you can pick up your instruments… but everything else fails?” 

“I know right!” Luke sighed, “But for some reason, our instruments? Easy.” 

“Super easy,” added Reggie, before standing up and grinning. “Oh, and check out what I learned today.” He held out his hands and a moment later his bass guitar appeared above him, dropping into his open arms and knocking him backwards onto the laundry box. 

Julie glanced at me questioningly before turning her attention back to Reggie, who was now lying flat on his back. “Yeah, that looked _super_ easy,” she replied sarcastically as he groaned.

“It’s like I always thought,” Luke explained, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Our instruments are attached to our souls.” 

“Cute theory,” I shrugged. “What about food? Y’all can’t eat, can you?”

Reggie let out a mournful sigh from his place on the box, which pretty much answered my question. A quick knock at the door caught my attention and I turned around to see Ray in the doorway. The moment he arrived, Reggie rolled backwards over himself to stand next to Luke and Alex, who immediately grabbed each other’s hands as they jumped. 

“Everything okay in here?” He smiled, and I waved from the bed. “How was school?” 

“Okay…” Julie trailed off. 

“Alright,” I shrugged. “Oh, and Ky wanted you to know he got the spot as ‘Official Los Feliz Student Photographer’ thanks to that trick you showed him.” 

Ray grinned, “That’s good to hear. You should celebrate! Next time he and AJ come over I’ll get ice cream.” 

“Thanks, Ray.”

“If you two need anything—” he gestured to the door before leaving, and Julie nodded so he closed it behind him. 

Reggie watched Ray leave, a look on his face that could only be described as awe. “He seems like the kind of guy who likes to barbecue. I bet he has a _great_ ribs recipe.” 

“That.” I pointed at Reggie, agreeing with him. “Is accurate.” 

Luke slowly made his way back to her dream box, eyeing it carefully. “ _Julie…_ ”

“Oh my gosh, I thought I told you to leave that alone!” She groaned exasperatedly.

“I know, and you should’ve just said nothing because now I can’t stop thinking about it!” He complained, gesturing to the box a final time. “What’s in the box, Julie?” 

“It’s just my dream box, okay? Whenever I get a thought or something, I write it down and get it out of my mind.” 

Kind of like the tenth from last page of my notebook.

Luke’s attention piqued. “Like… _lyrics_?” 

“They would be if I still wrote music, like I used to with my mom. Now it’s just full of stuff that doesn’t make me sad,” she sighed, placing her hands on her hips. 

I shrugged as I sat up, crossing my legs. “Julie’s lyrics are _amazing._ Way better than anything I could ever come up with.” 

Julie glared at me, “Not. Helping.” 

“But I mean, you _do_ play. We heard you this morning,” Alex explained.

“In the garage?” Her eyes widened, and Luke jumped down from the step he’d been standing on to thwack his bandmate in the arm. “So you were there too?” 

Each of their voices rose a few octaves as they tried to find a good enough excuse, until Luke tried to diffuse the situation by flopping onto the bed next to me. “So, where is your kitchen, by the way?” I rolled my eyes, picking up a decorative pillow and dropping it through his head. He turned around and scowled at me, “ _Rude_.”

“We need to set some boundaries,” Julie pointed out. “For starters, _stay out of my room!_ ” 

The three of them shared a look as Luke slid off the bed, and Reggie played some notes on his bass as they walked out the door one by one. Once they’d gone, Julie looked at me and raised an eyebrow, before picking the pillow up off the floor and tossing it at me. I caught it and grinned, using it to shield myself from any further potential attacks— which meant I didn’t see Alex’s head and shoulders float back through the door until after he started speaking.

“Hey, uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you. Julie, did you get back into your music program?” 

She glanced at the floor as she replied. “No. No, I didn’t.” 

“I’m sorry. That really sucks,” he smiled supportively, hovering there for a second after the silence became uncomfortable until he retreated back out the door after an awkward wave goodbye from Julie.

I rolled onto my front, propping myself up on my elbows. “You know we’re not giving up, right? LF wouldn’t know talent if it moved into that school and haunted it.”

Julie laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. “You know you’re in the same program, right?” 

“Exactly,” I agreed, “What _were_ they thinking?” 

She rolled her eyes and swatted me off her bed with another pillow.

~

I made my way back to my own room in time to catch Luke admiring the ukulele that Julie helped me decorate. I groaned to announce my presence, waiting expectantly for him to say something. For example, a good starter would have been an explanation for _why_ he was in my room? Julie only just kicked the guys out of hers?

“What?” He raised his hands in surrender, “You said not to touch anything. I haven’t _touched_ anything _._ ”

I rolled my eyes and sat down on the bed as I folded my arms. “What’s up?” 

“Why would you think something’s up?” Once again, Luke’s voice rose an octave or so as he tried to lie. 

Laughing, I patted the bed next to me. “Because you have the same look that Carlos does when he’s planning something. It’s the ‘if I don’t tell someone about this idea I might explode’ look.” 

Luke opened his mouth to dispute my theory before sighing and diving onto the bed next to me. He propped himself up on one arm, looking up at me. “So I was thinking about Julie and the music program.” 

_That_ got my attention. “I’m listening?” 

“And I have this _killer_ song that I think she should use, but I don’t know if she’ll need talking into it or not. And if she _did_ need a bit of prompting, you’d probably be the best person for that,” he explained.

“I’m flattered, but before this morning, Jules hadn’t sung in almost a year. I’ve been there all that time, but nothing changed. You guys arriving… I don’t know what it did, but you can’t sell yourself short, you might be a better person for the job,” I pointed out. “Show me the song?” 

Luke reached into his back pocket and unfolded the piece of paper. His handwriting was a _mess_ , but I could just make out the words and the chords he’d written next to them. _Bright._ For some weird ghost-related reason he couldn’t hand the paper over to me, so he sort of just let go of it just above my hands and let me catch it mid-air. “Just… hearing her this morning. No musician should ever give up a gift like that. That girl can _sing._ She definitely deserves to be in that program.”

“I wholeheartedly agree.” 

The paper was old and worn, and it crinkled as I tried to smooth it out. 

_Sometimes I think_

_I’m falling down_

_I wanna cry, I’m calling out_

_For one more try to feel alive_

“Shit,” I muttered, almost to myself. 

Luke rolled over and sat upright, and if he had gotten any closer his arm would’ve gone through mine as he leant over my shoulder. The boy had _no_ sense of personal space, but I was too focused on the lyrics in my hand to care. “What?” He asked, glancing between me and the paper.

_And when I feel lost and alone_

_I know that I can make it home_

_Fight through the dark_

_And find the spark_

“These are incredible…” I trailed off, ignoring Luke’s surprised yelp as I leant through him to grab my ukulele. _“Life is a risk but I will take it, close my eyes and jump, together I think that we can make it, come on let’s run…”_

He joined in softly on the chorus, grinning, _“And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together, bright forever, and rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together, bright forever…”_

“Damn, I wish I could write like this,” I traced my finger along the lyrics. It was so easy to get lost in them, it felt like if I studied them for too long I’d close my eyes and wake up on stage with a guitar in my hand. I steadied my focus back onto the task at hand, “Julie would kill this, for sure.” 

“That’s what I thought.” 

I let the paper fall back into his hands. “You gotta show this to Jules. It’s your song, and I don’t doubt that you can convince her.”

Luke folded the song back up and put it in his pocket. “Thanks.” 

Before he could leave, I held up a hand. “Wait—” What was I going to say? Oh yeah. “You’re a pretty awesome songwriter, by the way,” I strummed the four chords again on my ukulele. 

“Oh, uh…” Luke ran a hand through his hair. “Thanks,” he added before poofing out. 

~

I was sitting on my bed with a keyboard on my lap and my headphones plugged into it, careful not to wake any of the sleeping members of the house. At half eleven, there was a soft knock on the door, and without waiting for a response, Julie walked in. She closed the door behind her and set three bars of chocolate, a soda and a familiar-looking dog-eared piece of paper down next to me on the bed. Determination shone in her eyes and it had been a while since I’d seen that look.

“I’m all ears,” I told her as I took the headphones off. 

She motioned for me to scooch over on the bed and plugged in a headphone splitter so there were two sets of headphones connected to the keyboard. “I’m going to perform this song that Luke gave me tomorrow for Mrs Harrison, and she is _going_ to let me back into the music program.”

“And what’s my part in this?” I mused.

“Under no circumstances are you allowed to let me fall asleep until this is perfect.” 

I grinned. “Okay, but you’re going about this all wrong. You get started, I’m gonna make us cocoa.”

Julie adjusted her position on the bed, leaning back against the pillows and pulling the keyboard onto her lap as I closed the door behind me on my way downstairs. I hummed the tune of _Bright_ quietly as I rounded the corner to the kitchen, almost stopping completely in my tracks when I saw Luke staring into the fridge. 

On my way past, I kicked the fridge door shut through him with my foot as I pulled out the cupboard to fumble around for the hot cocoa mix. Luke’s complaints echoed around the empty room and I struggled not to laugh. 

“You know, that’s the second time tonight that’s happened,” he scowled at me, and I rolled my eyes as I reached around him to grab two mugs. 

“You can leave the fridge door open if you’re going to pay for the excess on the electricity bill, freeloader,” I remarked, raising an eyebrow at him as I closed the cupboard door and slid across the kitchen in my socks. “I’m guessing by the fact that Jules is now in my bedroom and commandeering my keyboard, that the pep talk went well?” 

“She is going to _rock_ this tomorrow.” 

I nodded as I finished the two cocoas, a small smile on my face. Yes, yes she was. Julie was going to _kill_ it tomorrow and Mrs Harrison would have no choice but to let her back into the program because of her sheer talent and awesomeness. I picked up a mug in each hand and walked back towards the bedroom, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to look back at Luke as he attempted to open one of the drawers. _“Thank you,”_ I mouthed, careful not to wake Carlos in the next room over. 

He sent a thumbs up in my direction and I whirled around to go back to Julie. 

“Now,” I placed one mug in Julie’s hand, forcing her away from the keyboard momentarily. “Let’s do this.”

~

After practising _Bright_ obsessively for at least a few hours, until it was past two and the piano part was more than perfect, Julie nodded off against my shoulder. I carefully removed her glasses and put them on the side table and pulled the comforter over her before putting the keyboard on the floor and turning off the light. 

It was only natural that I woke up before her, a bundle of nervous energy that could barely be contained. I tried to slide out of the bed without waking her— the girl needed as much sleep as she could get before that performance— which involved slowly lowering myself down onto the ground and doing army-style crawling in order to avoid a specific creaky piece of flooring under the carpet in the middle of my room. 

I grabbed a t-shirt with the NASA logo in the center in the bi flag colours (one of my all-time favourite tees), grabbed a dark blue flannel shirt, ripped jeans, a black leather jacket, and pulled a beanie over my hair. When I’d left it as long as possible, I nudged Julie awake and welcomed her back to the land of the living so she could get dressed for the performance. 

“Jules! Let’s carpe the frickin’ hell out of this diem! This performance of yours will 100% be something to remember, and you’re gonna be back in the music program before you have time to say ‘there are three ghost musicians from the nineties living in your mom’s music studio’.” 

She laughed, yawning a little and making her way back to her bedroom. “Thanks, Li. I’ll meet you downstairs in fifteen minutes.” 

Fifteen minutes later I was waiting by the door with my bag slung over my shoulder, more than ready to go. Alex leant against the counter and nodded in approval as Julie descended the stairs, wearing an awesome camo jumpsuit with a few badges that she’d sewn on herself. 

I let out a breath. “Jules, I would die for that outfit.” My eyes flicked over to where Alex was hovering next to me. “Is that insensitive, you know, ‘cause you’re a ghost and all?” 

“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’. “At least I don’t think so, considering I would also die for that outfit. I wouldn’t _wear_ it, I’m just in love with it.” 

“Good taste,” I remarked. “But seriously, Julie. Can I borrow that sometime?” 

She laughed, shaking her head a little as she replied, “Sure,” while linking her arm through mine. “Let’s do this thing.”

“We’ll meet you there,” Alex whispered to me as we left, and I sent a thumbs up in his direction before closing the door behind me.

~

The spirit assembly, which both of us had completely spaced about, had interfered with the plans ever-so-slightly, so I hovered on the sidelines with my guitar strapped to my back (didn’t have time to ditch it before the assembly) and waited for Julie to return with Flynn. Carrie was putting on a performance with her new song _Wow_ , and even though she could be a less-than-welcoming person quite a lot of the time, her and the rest of Dirty Candi were absolutely _killing_ it. 

I spotted AJ and Ky in the bleachers, and gave a small wave before fully turning my attention to Julie and Flynn as they entered the gymnasium. “What do you think?” I cocked my head in the direction of the performance. “Could I pull off a pastel wig?” 

Flynn raised an eyebrow at me, “Absolutely not.”

“Okay then.” 

The guys poofed in next to us and Alex instantly started following along with some of the dance moves from the sideline. Julie’s eyes widened when she saw them arrive, lowering her voice so Flynn wouldn’t hear. “What are you guys doing here?” 

“We wanna see you stick it to the man,” Luke grinned. 

I rolled my eyes before clarifying, “I invited them.”

Reggie watched the dancers, his eyes as wide as saucers. “Man, I miss high school.” 

By the time Dirty Candi finished (Candi with an ‘I’, purposefully so that their logo could be a lollipop, by the way), Julie fidgeted on the spot nervously, passing her microphone between her hands. Alex was the first to comment on it. 

“You okay? I mean, you look really nervous. Like _yack in a bowl_ nervous.” 

Reggie pointed at the stage, where a lone keyboard was standing. “What are you waiting for? This is your time!” 

“I just don’t think I had enough time to work on the song,” she confessed.

“I wouldn’t have given you the song if I didn’t think you were gonna rock it!” Luke reassured her. “There’s a piano on that stage with your name on it.”

“Hey,” I put a hand on her shoulder. “You go out there, and you kill it, because you were _born_ to play music, and this is just another time where you get to prove that. You can do this, Jules.” 

She nodded, jogging up the steps to the stage and sitting down on the piano. Julie cleared her throat, playing the first chord, momentarily pausing to think better of it, then starting again. 

“You got this,” Luke reminded her.

“I think she needs backup,” Reggie hissed, and I nodded, slowly making my way over to the stage and swinging my guitar around to my front. 

_“Sometimes I think I’m falling down, I wanna cry, I’m calling out, for one more try to feel alive…”_ she started, her voice echoing around the gym and slowly catching people’s attention one by one. 

I stummed a quiet chord behind her, in time to the piano, smiling encouragingly and mouthing the words. 

_And when I feel lost and alone,_

_I know that I can make it home_

_Fight through the dark_

_And find the spark_

_Life is a risk but I will take it_

_Close my eyes and jump_

_Together I think that we can make it_

_Come on let’s run_

Before I had even processed what was happening, stronger guitar chords had joined in, along with bass guitar and drums and the guys had appeared out of nowhere next to us, helping Julie with that last bit of confidence as she grinned at all of us, grabbing her mic and jumping out of her seat by the piano.

_And rise through the night_

_You and I_

_We will fight to shine together_

_Bright forever_

_And rise_

_Through the night_

_You and I_

_We will fight to shine together_

_Bright forever_

Although it was only when people started to surge towards the stage that we came to the realisation of what was somehow actually happening. The moment they started playing with us, the boys had become visible to the _entire school._

“Is this really happening?” Julie hissed, and I could only shrug in response. 

“Just go with it?” I suggested, nodding at Luke who took over the next verse.

_In times that I doubted myself_

_I felt like I needed some help_

_Stuck in my head_

_With nothing left_

While he sang, I climbed up next to Alex on the drums and watched the crowd. It was _electric._ With every lyric it only seemed to get more impressive, and I had to take a moment just to breathe it all in. The lights, the stage, the _music._

_I feel something around me now_

_So unclear, lifting me out_

_I found the ground_

_I’m marching on_

I jumped down from near the drums, landing next to Julie and flashing her a grin as Reggie shared Luke’s mic for the harmonies. And Luke? I could definitely see why he was the front runner of Sunset Curve. The boy could _sing._ We all sang together in the chorus, and I shared Julie’s mic, unable to wipe the smile from my face. 

_And rise through the night_

_You and I_

_We will fight to shine together_

_Bright forever_

The stage hand tossed me a spare mic and I caught it, letting my guitar hang there as I moved away to give Julie a little space and pumped my fist in the air. 

_And rise through the night_

_You and I_

_We will fight to shine together_

_Bright forever_

Luke started the next part and I walked over to him, holding out my mic to lead him across to the center of the stage, murmuring the lyrics quietly under my breath as he walked towards me. _“In times that I doubted myself, I felt like I needed some help, Stuck in my head with nothing left.”_ He gave me a little nod and I leaned forwards, taking over. 

_And when I feel lost and alone_

_I know that I can make it home_

_Fight through the dark_

A chorus of cheers rang out when I walked through Luke, letting him take over on the guitar as I slung an arm around Julie to harmonise. _“And find the spark._ ”

_And rise through the night_

_You and I_

_We will fight to shine together_

_Bright forever_

All of us sang the chorus, and I joined back in to back up Luke on guitar (not that he needed any backup, he was straight up _killing it_ out there) and it almost felt like we were _meant_ to be a band. Yeah, I get how corny that sounds. _So sue me_. We sounded good. Hell, we sounded _more_ than good— we were on _fire._

_And rise through the night_

_You and I_

_We will fight to shine together_

_Bright forever_

We finished the song and Julie held her mic in the air, soaking up the applause. I walked over to her and slipped my hand into hers, grinning like an idiot as we bowed and throwing my arm around her shoulders when we were upright again. Once we’d finished bowing, the audience gasped in confusion and I looked around to see what they were looking at. Luke, Alex and Reggie were looking around as well, waving but to no avail. 

_The audience could no longer see them._

How the hell do we explain _that_?

I glanced at Julie nervously, and she let out a weak laugh in response. 

_Well, shit._


	3. Nothing's Out Of Reach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band performs Flying Solo for Flynn, and Lita struggles in preparation for her psych presentation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from HIGHER by Bishop Briggs.

I shifted from foot to foot, trying to come up with a believable explanation for our magic ghost boys as the gymnasium fell completely silent. The stagehand appeared from the side, looking around in confusion. “Hey, where’d the rest of the band go?” 

My arm dropped from around Julie’s shoulders and I opened my mouth ready to blag my way out of the situation when Kayla looked up excitedly, “Wait, where those holograms?” 

_Holograms._ Believable? Perfect. 

Julie glanced at me and I nodded subtly, and she turned back to face the crowd. “Yes, yes! They were holograms. I plugged it into the ceiling projector before the show. I’d explain it, but it involves algorithms and science stuff.” 

I breathed a sigh of relief as the crowd seemed to buy our explanation, erupting in cheers. A flash of light caught my eye from the side and I noticed the boys poofing down next to the crowd. As if to test whether or not they could be seen, Reggie jumped onto the edge of the stage and danced a little before returning to his place next to his bandmates. 

Despite the chatter as the crowd dispersed, I could hear him clearly and struggled not to laugh at the interaction between him and Alex. 

“Yeah, I don’t think they can see us.” 

“I wish I couldn’t see you.” 

Principal Lessa shooed everyone back to class and I hovered next to Julie, waiting for the verdict. Mrs Harrison explained how Julie’s spot had already been filled, and there was nothing she could do, but before all hope was lost Principal Lessa gave in. “As much as I don’t approve of this little stunt you two pulled, I will not go down in history as the principal who kicked Julie Molina out of the music program.” 

I whooped, pumping my fist and pulling Julie in for a hug. 

“But,” Lessa halted our celebration momentarily. “When you win your first Grammy, I want to be thanked.”

Julie grinned, “Definitely.” 

Once she’d received congratulations from Mrs Harrison, Julie disappeared to talk to Flynn and I made my way out into the corridor to find AJ and Ky. Almost as soon as I left the auditorium I was bombarded with students talking at me about the performance and all I could do was smile and nod as I pushed through the crowd, only to be caught by an unknown hand and dragged into a side classroom. 

“Okay, _spill_ ,” AJ folded her arms. “Three questions— and no lying. First, since when did you start playing with a hologram band? Second, is the bassist single? Third— _when did you start playing with a hologram band?_ ”

I laughed, “We’re not a band, this was a one-off thing. And I’m not sure about Reggie, but I don’t _think_ he’s seeing anyone?” 

Ky sighed, “You gotta show me that hologram stuff, it was pretty impressive. I’ve never seen anything that realistic before!” 

_Ah._ There’s the problem. Talk about my fake holograms with one of my best friends who just happens to be obsessed with photography and image capture. 

“Sure, but later, okay? We gotta get to class,” I pointed out. “Maybe after school tomorrow. See you guys after science?” 

They nodded and I left the classroom, my mind buzzing with potential explanations I could run through before tomorrow night. What I wasn’t expecting was to be so distracted I almost completely walked into Julie when I rounded the corner. 

“Hey Jules, sorry about that—” I laughed, waving to the guys when I realised they were also there. 

Luke tried to get both of our attention, “Are we not gonna talk about what just happened?” 

“Yeah, the whole school saw you. It’s kinda freaking me out,” Julie replied. 

“But also the fact that we _killed_ it out there!” I held out my fist and Reggie bumped it with his, his hand only slightly phasing through mine as he misjudged the distance.

Alex looked around before saying, “It’s kind of freaking me out too. First only you guys could see us, but now people can see us when we play music with you? And my clothes are made of air but for some reason, I’m _still_ getting a wedge!” He trailed off, out of breath. “So. Many. Questions.” 

“I agree with Lita. The important thing is that we rocked that place. They were loving you two!” 

“Are you kidding?” Julie leant in, buzzing with excitement. “They loved _us._ That was a great song, Luke. Thanks.” 

Reggie grinned, “And did you see the cheerleaders looking at me? I think they were looking at me.” He grabbed Luke by the shoulders, “Please tell me they were.” 

Luke nodded at him, “Bro, they were looking at you.” 

Reggie practically jumped with joy. “I knew it!” 

“Also,” I added, “I’m pretty sure my best friend is crushing on you, Reggie.” 

He pumped his fist in response, having reached the peak of excitement where he could no longer form words. 

Alex gestured wildly with his hands, “I’m so… I’m so confused, you know? The afterlife should come with instructions or a quick start guide or something.” 

“Well, the good thing is that everyone thought you guys were holograms, and I got back into the program,” Julie explained, before hanging her head defeatedly. 

Reggie frowned at her sudden change in attitude. “Why do you look so bummed?” 

Luke nodded, wrapping an arm around each of his bandmates so they could all mirror Julie’s expression. “Yeah, dude, you’re making this face.” 

She tried not to laugh. “ _That…_ is not my face.” 

I glanced between the guys and her. “No, they’re pretty spot on.” 

“It’s your face,” Luke confirmed quietly. 

“And things just got weird between me and Flynn,” Julie explained. “She asked about you guys, and I couldn’t say. She’ll think I’ve gone off the deep end.” 

I shrugged, “Yeah, telling people your house is resident to three musician spirits isn’t exactly the definition of sanity…” 

Reggie pointed at the janitor as he rolled his cart past, Luke and Alex jumping out of the way. “Well this dude definitely thinks you’ve both gone off the deep end.” 

She sighed, walking past them. “I’m gonna get back to class.” 

“Me too,” I waved goodbye to them. 

Reggie jumped up and down, “Oh, tell your friend I’m single!”

“Oh, and that he’s dead,” Alex pointed out.

Reggie panicked, shaking his head. “Oh no, no, no! Leave that part out.” 

I rolled my eyes, laughing quietly. “Knowing AJ, it’s probably not a dealbreaker.” 

~

When I arrived back home I could already hear music coming from the studio. Instead of going up to my room, I went straight there, pushing the door open with my foot and slinging my bag onto the couch. Luke and Reggie were sitting opposite each other, trying out different melodies. 

I pulled up a chair and sat next to them, nodding in approval at the riff as I hugged my notebook close to my chest. “What are you guys working on? Sounds good.” 

“Just testing some stuff out, seeing if it works with some lyrics we found,” Luke explained. “Thought you were in detention?”

I quirked an eyebrow at him. “Cancelled. Teacher in charge went home with a stomach bug and no one wanted to cover. Wait… lyrics you _found_?” Before he could find an answer, Julie walked in. “Hey, Jules. Sorted things out with Flynn yet?” 

“No,” she sighed. “She won’t even talk to me. I’ve sent over a hundred text messages and the only reply I got was a poop emoji.” 

I pulled a face, “Damn, that’s rough.” 

Luke stood up, putting his guitar to one side. “Now that you’re both here… we have some pretty major news to tell you. We had a band meeting earlier and—” he paused to point at Reggie for a drum roll— “We wanna invite you guys to join Sunset Curve. And no, you’re not dreaming.” 

Okay, that actually surprised me. I wasn’t sure what to say, but Julie got in first. 

“Oh.” 

“Oh? Uh oh, she said, ‘oh’. Um…” Luke tried to find the words. “That’s what you say when you get socks on your birthday, not when you’re invited to join the most epic band ever.”

She sighed, “Sorry, I’m honoured, but I can’t think about anything but Flynn right now.” 

“Yeah, you’re in a tough spot,” he replied, waiting for a moment before restarting. “So you wanna join the band?” 

Julie groaned, walking back towards the door. I shook my head in disbelief, “Read the room, dude.” 

“What about you?” Reggie prompted, watching me. “I know you’re considering it.” 

Well, he wasn’t wrong. “Okay, so what if I am? First of all, I’m not doing it without Julie. Second… I have a presentation tomorrow I’m currently stressing over, so now isn’t exactly the best time to take something new on.” _Even though I really want to and this actually sounds like the best thing to happen to me all year._

“So we circle back around…” Luke spun a one-eighty to see Julie before she could leave. “We need you, and you need us because you need music. We found this poem that you wrote, and Reggie and I, we added this really cool melody to it. It sounds awesome.” 

Julie hesitated, staring at the piece of paper in his hands. “Where’d you find that?” 

Immediately, I raised my hands in surrender and side-stepped out of the way as she advanced on Luke. He tugged Reggie in front of him as a human shield, even though they were both ghosts and she could walk through both of them easily. 

“Definitely not your dream box,” Luke panicked, backing away slowly before breaking into a run to hide behind the piano. 

“You went through my stuff?” Julie accused him, chasing him around the piano. 

“Yeah, we can do that now!” Reggie chimed in triumphantly. 

She groaned, “No, you can’t! Boundaries! Give it back!” 

Luke froze on the other side of the piano, before jumping onto the stool and leaning towards Julie. “No! Hey, you need to realise how insanely talented you are.”

Nothing but an innocent bystander, I shrugged. “He’s got a point.” 

“Thank you,” he gestured towards me, pulling out the piece of paper again. “Listen to this. If somebody hurts you—” Luke was forced to pull the paper back out of Julie’s reach so he could continue, hiding it behind his back. “If somebody hurts you, I’m gonna get hurt too. _And my life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo.”_

 _“Oh-oh,”_ Reggie chimed in, looking pleased with himself. 

“It’s a killer melody,” Luke assured her.

Julie sighed, scowling at him. “I wrote that about _Flynn_ , when she was helping me with all my mom stuff. Look, I gotta go.”

“Hey!” He called after her. “What about the band?”

I rolled my eyes as she turned back one last time, ignoring the question completely. “Oh, and I almost forgot. Stay out of my room!” 

Luke followed her half out the door, sticking his head through the painted wood to shout back, “Yeah? We will if you join our band!” 

I sank back onto the couch as Luke walked back over to the piano. He flattened the lyrics out in front of him, a pencil in his hand and a new guitar pick between his teeth as he tried to work out how he thought the song should go. Reggie poofed over to next to him and tapped his hand on the piano along to the beat as Luke went over the lyrics. 

I pulled out my own pencil and opened my notebook to a spare blank page. One of the things I loved about this notebook— Rose got it for my birthday a few years ago— is that it randomly alternated between blank and lined pages. Not sure why, but that made it perfect for random doodles, sketches, but also music-related stuff. I rolled over on the couch and balanced the notebook against the arm, watching the two ghosts carefully as I started to sketch out the scene. 

_“If I leave you on a bad note, leave you on a sad note, guess that means I’m buying lunch that day,”_ Luke followed the words with his pencil, nodding in time to the beat. _“I know all your secrets, you know all my deep dish, guess that means that some things they never...”_

Before he had a chance to sing the next line, Luke got cut off by a confused Reggie. “Wait, so… when she says ‘deep dish’, is she talking about, like, _pizza_ , or…”

I laughed so loudly and suddenly I rolled off the couch, yelping in pain as I positioned myself back on the cushions to continue drawing. Reggie frowned at me, and I laughed. “Sometimes it’s easy to forget that you guys missed the past twenty-five years.”

Alex poofed in on top of the piano, a goofy smile on his face as he arrived. 

Reggie greeted him happily, “Oh, hey man. Where’ve you been?” 

“Um, kind of everywhere. Yeah. No, I met a new ghost friend,” he explained. 

Reggie’s eyebrows shot up. “For real?” 

“Yeah, he answered a _ton_ of questions.” 

Luke pulled his notebook and Julie’s lyrics out from slightly underneath Alex, a frown on his face. “Yeah? Like whether Julie and Lita are gonna join the band or not?” 

Alex watched him warily, “We didn’t really get to that, but I think I know why we’re here. Okay? All ghosts have, like, unfinished business. So, we need to do our unfinished business so that we can cross over.” 

Luckily enough to have a rubber on the end of my pencil, I erased part of the piano and started to sketch the outline of Alex onto the scene. 

Luke glanced at Alex, “Why would we do that? I’m just saying, this is like our second chance. All we need to do is get the girls to play with us.” He turned around slowly, raising an eyebrow at me and I scowled back. 

“I already told you my answer,” I reminded him. “If you’re that keen, ask again later.” 

“How later exactly is later?” 

I sighed, shaking my head and smiling as I chewed on the edge of my pencil. “Can y’all stop moving? I’m trying to draw here,” I pointed my pencil at them accusingly.

“Luke and I made a killer melody to some of Julie’s lyrics,” Reggie nudged Alex, and Luke showed him the notebook. 

“Oh…” Alex trailed off. “Without your drummer. Cool.” 

“Drumming is so nineties, okay?” Luke tapped him on the shoulder. “We’re just gonna stomp our feet now.” 

Alex sat upright, slightly offended. “Okay. Well, you know what else is so _nineties_? Being rude. Alright? Get woke. These are sensitive times.” He handed the book back to Luke by pushing it into his chest and ignoring his bandmate’s protests.

“I learned that from my ghost friend,” Alex whispered to Reggie, grinning.

“Woke. That’s a cool word. What does it mean?” 

“No clue,” Alex replied, still grinning. 

So in sync that you’d think they’d rehearsed it, the boys’ heads all turned to me. I sighed, feeling their eyes on me as I flicked my gaze up, still watching the paper out of the corner of my eye as I sketched Alex’s fanny pack. “You want me to explain modern-day slang, don’t you?” I asked with a sigh. 

The look on their faces gave me the answer I needed.

~

When Julie returned, revealing that we had half an hour to perfect the song before showing it to Flynn to prove that the guys were ghosts and not holograms, and that she wasn’t losing her mind, I was slightly surprised. But then again, I was also slightly surprised at the appearance of the aforementioned ghosts in the first place, so I’ve learned not to question things in the Molina household. 

My guitar rested between my legs as I sat next to the drum kit with Alex in preparation. Julie was perfecting the drum pad part for the beginning and Reggie and Luke were going over it one more time while I sat and chatted to Alex. 

“So…” I waggled my eyebrows suggestively. “Tell me about your ghost friend.” 

Alex instantly blushed, and looked away, almost dropping the drumstick from where it spun in his hands. He caught it just in time and put it back between his fingers, moving them so that it started spinning again. I tried to copy him with the other drumstick. He’d been trying to teach me how to do the trick for the past five minutes, without success. 

“His name’s Willie. He’s been a ghost for a while, so he was really good at calming me down about my afterlife crisis… he’s sort of ran me over but I’m fine—”

“Dateable?” I suggested, cutting right to the chase. “Because you seem like you're crushing. _Hard._ ” 

He spluttered, and the drumstick almost got away from him again. “What makes you say that?” 

“You’ve barely known him twenty-four hours yet every time you think about him you get that look in your eye like you want to marry him. _That’s_ how I know,” I replied pointedly. 

“Am I that obvious?” 

“Kinda.”

I opened my mouth to speak again, but before I could tell him to go for it, Julie spotted Flynn outside and shouted. “She’s here! Thanks for coming. We just wanted to rehearse the song so it was perfect, which it’s not, but whatever.” 

“No, if I’m gonna hear a song from your imaginary ghost band, I want it to be perfect. So, get back in there.” She pointed at three random spots outside the garage— where the boys noticeably were _not_ — “All of you. You too.”

“The song is perfect,” I called over. “I think it’s rad.” Luke smirked at my use of the word ‘rad’ and I groaned. “God, I hate that you’re rubbing off on me already.” 

Flynn furrowed her brow at the fact that she could see me talking to air. “So you’re in on this too? That’s… interesting.” 

“They’re not out here,” Julie laughed.

Flynn touched her friend’s shoulder gently as she walked into the studio. “Oh, I know.” 

Julie looked around, “Alright, guys. You ready?” 

I nodded, and so did Alex and Luke. Reggie shifted uncomfortably from his space next to Flynn for a second before confessing. “Do you think you could get her to sit down, I feel kind of awkward walking through her.” 

Julie nodded at him, turning to Flynn and asking, “Can you go over there? Reggie needs some space to rock out, and he feels kinda weird walking through you.”

Despite not believing a single thing coming out of Julie’s mouth, Flynn complied and let herself be led over to one of the chairs. “Boy, when you create a world you _really_ live in it.” 

“If you’ll notice,” I dramatically gestured around the room like a flight attendant pointing out the exits, “You’ll notice that there isn’t any equipment used to produce a hologram. Also, do you know how expensive that shit is? Like damn, it’s a miracle the school bought that crap, ghosts would have actually been a more realistic explanation in context.” I lifted the guitar up and put the strap on. 

Julie nodded at me before taking her place behind the keyboard. “The guys took a poem about you that I wrote and put it to music.” 

“And I provided the role of moral support and resident artist while they did so,” I gestured to the sketch from before on the wall, of Luke and Reggie leaning against the piano concentrating while Alex sat on top of it between them with his drumsticks in his hands. 

“Aww,” Flynn pouted, “I wish I didn’t have to talk to Ray after this.” 

“It’s called _Flying Solo_ ,” Julie continued, “Hope you like it.” She started out by pressing the keys on the drum pad and recording a beat to repeat while she played the keyboard. 

_If I leave you on a bad note, leave you on a sad note_

_Guess that means I’m buying lunch that day_

_I know all your secrets, you know all my deep dish_

_Guess that means some things they never,_

_They never change_

_We both know what I, what I_

_What I mean_

_When I look at you it’s like I’m looking at me._

I joined in at the same time as the guys appeared to Flynn, grinning at Reggie as he popped into her view next to me. 

_And my life, my life would be real low, zero_

_Flying solo_

_My life, my life would be real low, zero_

_Flying solo without you_

Flynn was practically glued to her seat, her mouth hanging open in an expression that seemed to cross between awe, confusion, and shock as she tried to process what was going on. 

_Yeah my life, my life would be real low, zero_

_Flying solo without you_

Julie knelt down in front of Flynn, pulling her back to reality as she grabbed her hand, letting Luke and Reggie draw in closer with our guitars. 

_Yeah, you know who I’m liking_

_Way before I like them_

_Duh, ‘cause you like them first_

_And if somebody hurts you,_

_I’m gonna get hurt too_

_That’s just how we work_

_Yeah, that’s just how we work_

_It will never change_

_We both know what I, what I mean_

I sat on a stool next to Alex, sharing the mic next to his drums while the other guys sang so close to each other around one of the mic stands that they might as well have been able to smell what the other had for breakfast… if they could still eat, that is.

_When I look at you it’s like I’m looking at me_

_My life, my life would be real low, zero_

_Flying solo_

_My life, my life would be real low, zero_

_Flying solo without you_

_Hey! Yeah, yeah_

_Hey! Yeah, yeah_

_My life, my life would be real low, zero_

_Flying solo without you_

We kept playing as Julie stopped singing, still keeping the guys visible to Flynn. She walked over to Reggie as Luke took up residence next to one of the other mics and put her hand through his shoulder, practically leaping back in surprise when her hand actually went _through_ his shoulder. 

“Weird, right?” Reggie grinned.

“They’re _ghosts_?!” 

Alex piped up from behind the drums, “Well actually, we prefer musician spirits.” 

I rolled my eyes, “Of course you do.”

“Julie?” Luke called over, “So does this mean you and Lita are joining our band?” 

Julie looked at me and smiled, nodding slightly. I caved, “Yeah—” only to be cut off by Flynn as she leant on Julie’s shoulder, putting an arm around her best friend. 

“Actually, I think you’re joining _their_ band.” 

“I’m gonna go with what she said,” Julie agreed, and I laughed in support. 

“Yeah, that fits better, don’t you think?” I added.

Luke shook his head slightly in disbelief as Alex’s drums kicked back in and we started to sing again. 

_My life, my life would be real low, zero_

_Flying solo_

_My life, my life would be real low, zero_

_Flying solo without you_

_Hey! Yeah, yeah_

_Hey! Yeah, yeah_

_“My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you… you…”_ Julie finished, resting her forehead against Flynn’s as her piano faded out. “Still wanna talk to my dad?” 

“Nah, I’m good,” Flynn conceded, wrapping Julie in a hug.

Let’s hope whatever idea I come up with for tomorrow night with AJ and Ky goes as well as this did…

~

 _10pm._ I glanced at the clock on the wall of the studio. Fitting with the theme of a lot of the decorations in the room, it was shaped like a butterfly. My eyes drifted downwards and I spotted the drawing from earlier, stuck to the wall with leftover sticky tape and blu-tack, but there wasn’t enough of either to have used only one. 

I stood up and started to pace. “This should be easy. This should be easy. Why the fuck isn’t it easy?” I muttered to myself, walking back and forth between the couch and the coffee table. “I know this information like the back of my hand.” 

_The Learning Approach in psychology has two main branches: behaviourism and social learning theory (SLT). Behaviourism focuses on classical and operant conditioning, using research provided by Pavlov, Skinner and Watson and Rayner, where SLT emphasises learning behaviour through role models and observation, a case study of this is the research of Bandura._

“I’m not teaching the entire damn topic, just a brief introduction. This shouldn’t be as hard as it is. Why is it so _fucking_ hard?” I groaned, letting my anger out on the pencil in my hand until I finally hurled it at the wall behind me. 

“Woah, if I wasn’t already dead then I’d have been _seriously_ worried for a second there,” Alex blinked, his eyes flicking between the pencil— currently _somehow_ lodged in the wall next to his head— and me, on the verge of another mental breakdown. “You okay?” 

I raised an eyebrow, “Do I look okay?” 

“Legitimately afraid to answer, if you want my honest opinion.” 

I dropped back onto the couch dejectedly, “Well at least you’re honest.” I let my head hang as I spoke, my hair almost completely obscuring my face as Alex took a seat next to me. “Did you have to give oral presentations when you went to school?”

“Oh my _god_ they were the _worst_ ,” he complained. “I wanted to murder every teacher that ever set one.” 

“My Achilles heel, my fatal flaw, the bane of my existence…” I trailed off, struggling to find more ways of saying ‘the thing that makes me want to fake my own death and move to Italy to avoid’ without actually saying ‘the thing that makes me want to fake my own death and move to Italy to avoid’. “Public speaking. Speaking in front of the public, or just people in general. Opening my mouth and letting words come out in front of a crowd of people…”

“You sang with us and Julie at the rally, and earlier in front of Flynn? What made you comfortable enough to do that?” 

I paused for a second thinking. “Well the first time I wasn’t entirely thinking until I was already on stage. And before that I just knew that Julie looked like she needed help, and my ‘mom friend overdrive’ kicked in— that’s what AJ calls it when I’m scared to do something but then someone else can’t do it and I suddenly develop the ability to Do The Thing™— and then I looked up and I was just standing on stage next to Julie holding a guitar. But then you guys appeared and it started to feel more natural and I actually enjoyed it.”

“And with _Flying Solo_?” He prompted.

“Well I’ve known Flynn as long as Julie has, so it’s slightly easier. But also you guys were all there, so it’s not like I was alone,” I explained.

Alex glanced at his drum kit in the corner, “Well, the best way for me to work through anxiety is usually drumming. But it’s a _little_ loud for right now. I was gonna suggest you practice the presentation with headphones on while wailing on the drums but… yeah.” 

I slowly leant back, sliding off the couch and onto the floor, or more specifically off the couch, onto the floor, and under the coffee table all in one movement. “Don’t for one second think you’re not being helpful, because I really appreciate this by the way.”

“Don’t mention it,” Alex replied casually. “Happy to help.” 

A series of short thuds signalled the arrival of Luke and Reggie as their feet hit the ground after poofing in. Needless to say, they haven’t managed to stick the landing just yet. 

“Hey Alex,” Reggie was the first to speak. 

I raised one arm out from under the coffee table and stuck it upwards to wave. “Hey, guys.” I didn’t need to see them to feel the confusion radiating off them in waves. What I wasn’t expecting was to hear the rustling of Reggie’s flannel as he laid down next to me, folding his arms across his front and staring at the ceiling. 

“So…” he asked after a few seconds of staring upwards. “Why are you under the coffee table?” 

I sighed, “Crisis mode. Besides, not like I have anywhere better to be.” 

“Asleep?” Alex suggested.

“The couch?” Luke chimed in. 

It took less than two minutes for Alex and Luke to give in and lie down on my other side. The four of us stared at the ceiling, no one with any idea of how to start a conversation. That is, until Reggie opened his mouth again. 

“Why are there chairs on the ceiling?”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you,” I replied.

“ _How_ are there chairs on the ceiling?” Alex asked, a valuable addition. 

“Couldn’t tell you that either. But none of them have fallen down yet.” 

Alex shrugged. “That’s good to know, I guess.” 

Another minute passed before anyone said anything else. Then, phasing through the table as he stood up, Alex made a decision. “You’re going to practice. You’re going to practice the presentation in front of us until when you go to do it tomorrow, you can convince yourself you’re just standing in the studio and doing it here. It’s not an amazing plan, but it’s all we’ve got.” 

Slowly, I nodded, and then manoeuvred myself out from under the table. “You bring a valid point.”

With the second wave of energy that comes with the clock ticking over to eleven o’clock (the third wave only comes at three in the morning, naturally), I picked up my cue cards and started to pace back and forth in front of the Sunset Curve boys as they took their places on the couch. 

“Right, the Learning Approach to psychology has two main branches…” 

~

I shot upright, blinking rapidly to wake myself up. I didn’t entirely remember falling asleep on the couch. Actually, I didn’t remember falling asleep at _all._ But I was definitely on the couch, and there was a blanket hanging half across my legs and half on the floor from where I’d managed to shrug it off while waking up. The boys were nowhere to be seen. Automatically, my head turned towards the sound of the ticking clock. _Late. I was going to be late._

“SHIT.”

I grabbed my leather jacket from where it was hanging on one of the chairs (one of the chairs on the floor, not the ceiling. Not sure why I felt the need to clarify, but here we are) and picked up a beanie from the side, pulling it down over my messy hair as I darted into the Molina kitchen to grab a piece of toast as it popped up. “Thanks for the breakfast, Ray!” I tucked the jacket under one arm and shoved the toast in my mouth so I had a free hand to grab my school back and simultaneously button up the flannel shirt I’d worn yesterday so that it would be harder to tell I was wearing the same clothes. “AJ and Ky are coming round after school today. Love you, bye!” I shouted with a mouthful of warm, unbuttered toast before setting off at a run towards the school. 

~

By some miracle, I made it to homeroom before the bell. I’m not sure how, but I fucking managed it, and for that I am grateful to whatever gods decided to smile upon me today. _Jesus fucking Christ, Lita. It’s before nine am, don’t be weird yet._

Who am I kidding? I’m always weird. 

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person look as dead inside as you,” Ky remarked, turning around in his seat to marvel at how much of a zombie I was.

I flashed him a grin and a pair of finger guns, “Don’t worry, I’m just as dead on the outside too.”

AJ leant over from the neighbouring desk. “For once, he’s not wrong. You don’t look like you’ve slept in the last eleven years. How are you feeling about today’s presentation?” 

“As good as I can,” I shrugged. 

She blinked, surprised. “That’s quite the attitude for someone who looks like they’ve just marathoned all eight Harry Potter movies one after the other.” 

A thought occurred to me and I scribbled it down on an empty page in my notebook: _Sunset Curve Harry Potter marathon?_ The books came out just after they died, so that might be fun at some point. 

Ky patted the top of my head, and I wondered what he was doing for a second until he explained. “This new? I swear I’ve not seen this one before.” 

“What do you mean?” I reached up tentatively to touch the beanie. “It’s the one I wore yesterday?”

“No, no it isn’t,” AJ agreed with him. “That one was black.”

“And what’s this one?” I frowned. 

“Light grey?” He supplied, pulling out his phone to take a quick mugshot of me to prove it. 

That… was not my beanie. _Oh god,_ the realisation hit me and I felt a strong urge to pull the offending hat down over my eyes to let me disappear into the darkness it would provide. _This was one of Luke’s._

Luckily, the bell rang before I was forced to give my friends an explanation, and we made our way to the psych class. I hovered outside for a moment, working up the courage to go in. _“Just pretend you’re in the studio doing it in front of us. Piece of cake, right? Damn, do I miss cake.”_ Reggie’s voice echoed in the back of my mind and I struggled to suppress a laugh as I stuck my hands in my pockets and finally walked into the room. 

When it was my turn, I walked up to the front of the class and glanced down at my cue cards. I closed my eyes for a beat. _Imagine you’re in the studio._ _You’re doing it in front of the guys, like we practised._ When I opened my eyes again, I locked eyes with Alex, who gave an encouraging smile. Wait, _what?_ I scanned the back row and found Reggie, Luke and Alex each taking up a seat there. Reggie’s eyes kept flicking between me and the back of AJ’s head, which was understandable, and Luke had his head resting on one arm, his other arm hanging over the edge of the desk with a thumbs up.

_Not alone._

I took a deep breath.

And another.

“Hey, I’m Lita. You probably recognise me from that pep rally performance. I’m gonna talk about the Learning Approach for a bit.”


	4. I'll Put You On The Map

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rehearsals, detention and songwriting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from House of Gold by twenty one pilots.

After the presentation, the lesson went by pretty quickly and the guys poofed out midway through it. On the way out, AJ hooked her arm around mine, and Ky did the same on my other side as we walked through the hallway towards our neighbouring lockers. 

“So that went better than any of us anticipated,” Ky pointed out. 

“How little faith you have in me,” I laughed, until I saw the mortified look on his face. “Relax, I’m kidding.” 

AJ opened her locker and held up a hand to stop the haphazardly piled books and other objects from all tumbling out at once. An old bio textbook— I could’ve sworn we hadn’t used that one in years— slipped under her outstretched arm, but she managed to catch it by pinning her knee to the locker below before it hit the ground. I will never not be surprised about how my best friend has the reflexes of a hyper-vigilant cat. “So,” she shifted the position of her arm to keep the remaining books in her locker as she placed the biology textbook back and exchanged it for the assigned reading for English. “We still on for tonight? Your place after school?” 

“You mean after detention after school?” I clarified. “Sure.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Yeah, after that.” 

Ky’s face broke into a grin as I opened my own locker, an old picture of Rose, Julie and I at a BANNERS concert staring back at me. “Are you going to show me the holograms?”

“Do I get to meet the cute one? Well, they’re all cute but—” 

I cut AJ off before she had a chance to get too excited. “Sort of, yeah. And by the way,” I leant in so that Ky couldn’t hear as I whispered, “Reggie _is_ single. And he’s also interested.”

“He has terrible taste then,” Ky muttered under his breath, earning himself a shove from his sister. “What, like I’m wrong?” This time instead of a shove, he got a thwack on the back of the head with the English book, a la Hermione hitting Harry in the library in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince after the “but I _am_ the chosen one” comment. _I really need to get the guys into Harry Potter_ , I reminded myself. 

“What have you got next?” I asked them, before my mind could wander and think of what Hogwarts houses the guys would be in.

“Calculus,” AJ groaned, leaning her head against her locker. “Defenestrate me. Please.” 

“I’m not throwing you out a window.”

“Counter point, I want to see what would happen,” Ky chimed in. 

“Counter _counter_ point,” I stopped the conversation from going any further. “We’re on the ground floor.” 

AJ sighed dramatically. “Screw you and your ability to shoot down every single one of my ideas. I guess that means I’m going to calculus then. What about you?”

“Free period,” I replied with a smirk. 

She scowled at me as she shot back, “Well aren’t you a lucky little—”

“Bye Lita, see you at lunch,” Ky waved, using his free hand to direct AJ in the direction of the classroom before she had a chance to finish.

I rolled my eyes, laughing. “See you after class.” I put my psychology textbooks in my locker and closed it to find the guys leaning against the three lockers next to me. “Hey,” I smiled.

“Well, would you look at that?” Luke feigned surprise. “If it isn’t our resident public speaker.” 

I rolled my eyes, laughing. “Shut up.”

“You did really well,” Alex confirmed. 

I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear before speaking, suddenly conscious that the action drew attention to the fact I was still wearing Luke’s beanie. As if he could read my mind, Luke’s eyes drifted upwards and his mouth formed a small ‘o’ shape as he realised. “Thought you guys would’ve gone back to the studio after my class?”

“We wanted to explore a little. See how much this place has changed,” Reggie explained.

I looked around at the hallway as it slowly became more deserted. “Hey, I have a free period next. Want to move this conversation to the music room?” They all nodded as I started to walk towards one of the empty rooms. The music program had one main room, and several soundproof side rooms where students could practise their instruments in peace without disturbing the lessons. I opened the door to the nearest room and ditched my bag next to the piano stool before sitting down. 

“Well this is cosy,” Alex remarked after a few moments, and I couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I just wanted to say… Thanks, for last night. And today. And honestly the past few days you’ve been here because you’re really fun to be around and you’ve helped Jules and I a lot and just… thank you. Wow, I’d probably hug you if I could.” I confessed, hugging my jacket closer to me. 

“Awww, I’d hug you too if I could,” Reggie put a hand over his heart, touched. 

“Oh, and…” I reached up tentatively to pull the hat from my head, “Sorry for accidentally stealing your beanie, Luke.” 

He put a hand out to stop me. “You can keep it for a bit, if you want. I mean, you look better in it anyway.” He shrugged, trying to downplay his words. “Anyways, that one’s not even my favourite— I’ve got three just like it.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Besides, it’ll hide your bed head…”

“Smooth,” Alex rolled his eyes, muttering half under his breath. 

“Gee, thanks,” I laughed, and then I remembered what I needed to tell the guys. “Oh, shit! I forgot to say, I invited my friends AJ— the one that’s crushing on Reggie— and Ky over tonight after detention. I need to tell them you’re ghosts and not holograms.” 

Alex frowned, “Is that the best idea?”

“Ky is in the AV club and wants to major in photography or some other form of image capture, so he’s going to figure it out one way or another and it’ll be easier if I come clean than deal with the aftermath of him finding out I’ve been lying,” I explained. “And AJ never takes long to figure out when I’m lying, and she’ll needle me until I tell her the truth anyway.”

“Makes sense,” Luke shrugged. “So how are we doing this? Same way as with Flynn?” 

“Yeah, except we can’t use that song because Julie literally wrote it for Flynn, but she’s also agreed to go see a movie with Flynn tonight so I don’t actually know if you guys can become visible with just me or if we need both of us.”

Reggie’s face creased in concentration, “How do we test it?” 

“Well I was thinking, AJ videoed our performance of _Bright_ at the rally, and you can see exactly when you guys appear. That means that if we tried it now and filmed it, we’d be able to see the results?” I suggested, already pulling out my phone. “Also this room is soundproof, so we can try out whatever in here and no one will interrupt. Heads up, I have another class in…” I checked my watch. “An hour and a half.”

As it turned out, the guys had become pretty efficient in summoning their instruments. Well, sort of… There wasn’t enough room for a drum kit, so Alex was using a small side table while Luke and Reggie tuned their guitars and I set up the camera. Said camera was currently being balanced on a music stand in a very precarious way, and I inwardly prayed that it wouldn’t fall and shatter the screen.

Once I’d finished setting it up, I gave the guys a thumbs up before hitting record and picking up the guitar I was borrowing from the school. I wasn’t expecting to do this today so I didn’t bring mine in. Then again, I also wasn’t expecting to live past first period, so I’m doing pretty well.

“What song?” Reggie asked. 

“Why don’t we just do one of your Sunset Curve songs, and I’ll improvise? Like one of the songs from your demo?” 

Luke quirked an eyebrow, “You’ve been listening to our demo?” 

“Maybe,” I grinned. “Okay, yeah. I have. Don’t let it go to your head. Now or Never is my favourite.” 

“Me? _Never_ ,” he replied. “Alex, count us in on Now or never?”

As the drummer nodded and raised his sticks, I took one final look at the camera. Luke shot me a grin before starting to sing. _“Take off, blast off, count down til we blast open the top, face first, full charge, electric hammer to the heart.”_

I followed his lead, joining in with him, Alex and Reggie and building off their energy. 

_Clocks move faster ‘cause it’s all we’re after now_

Luke nodded his head to bring Reggie over to him so they could both share a mic. “ _Won’t stop climbing ‘cause this is our time yeah,”_ before pushing him away to take over the next part. _“When all the days were black and white those were the best shades of my life!”_

_Don’t look down_

_‘Cause we’re still rising up right now_

_And even if we hit the ground_

He nodded at me and I grinned, singing _“We’ll still fly, keep dreaming like we’ll live forever…”_

_But living like it’s now or never!_

Alex took the next solo, his hands busy drumming on the table which left him shaking his head to get his hair out of his face. 

_We’re keep searching for tomorrow_

_‘Cause we got all we need today_

Luke cut back in, _“Living on a feeling that’s been running through our veins.”_

And Reggie took the next line— my favourite line of the entire song, actually— _“We’re the revolution that’s been singing in the rain.”_

We stopped playing our instruments to do the next part, and even though it was selfish, I was thankful that the rooms were soundproof so I didn’t have to share this experience with anyone. 

_Don’t look down_

_‘Cause we’re still rising up right now_

Just before the ‘now’, Luke swung his guitar over his shoulder, timing it perfectly so that he could play the power chord at the same time as he sang the word. It was so well-done, I couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could possibly have the confidence to spin that PRS around like that. It was the _coolest_ thing I have ever seen. That was the _only_ reason I almost missed my cue, and it had nothing to do with the person swinging the guitar, only the trick itself. At least, that’s what I tried to convince myself.

_And even if we hit the ground_

_We’ll still fly_

_Keep dreaming like we’ll forever_

_But living like it’s now or never_

_It’s now or never_

I stood there for a second after we finished, breathless. By the time I could actually bring myself to speak, I had almost forgotten that the camera was still rolling. I brushed a piece of hair out of my face, adjusting the beanie before I reached over and stopped it so that we could play back the footage. “Wow,” I finally spoke. “That was awesome.” 

“You’re really good,” Reggie turned to me, running a hand through his hand. “Like you would’ve been a great member of Sunset Curve.” 

“Thanks.” I pulled a water bottle out of my bag, “Hey, Luke. Did you write this one too?” 

“He wrote almost all of the Sunset Curve songs,” Alex chimed in. 

“Pretty impressive,” I acknowledged. 

Luke wandered over, leaning over my shoulder to look at the phone in my hand. “Do you write?” If he had gotten any closer, I had no doubts that he would’ve unintentionally walked straight through me. The boy had no sense of personal space, but I was still too on the performance high to care. 

“I wish,” I replied with a laugh, waving the other two boys over to watch the video. The moment of truth. At the moment, all I could see on the video was me, talking to air as I held my guitar. I pressed play, and we started to watch.

~

After finding out that it _did_ work, and that the guys could be seen—or at least seen via video—when they played with either me or Julie, we settled on Now or Never as the song to play for AJ and Ky. We practised it for the remaining hour, and after that the day seemed to pass by quickly with apparently no intention of slowing down until I got to detention, where it started to drag on so much I started to consider the chances of the school being close to a black hole.

I’d had _Now or Never_ alternating with _Kicks_ by Barns Courtney and _Glory_ by the Score stuck in my head on and off since just before detention. My fingers tapped the desk in time to the beat for _Kicks_ , desperate for a chance to play it. Not just to play it, but to play it for the guys. I hadn’t had a chance to introduce them to some of the music they’d missed yet, and this would be the perfect opportunity to show them my favourite bands, like Barns Courtney, Vistas, The Score and American Authors.

When Mr Parker stepped out of the room for a few minutes—or half an hour, you could never really tell what to expect with him—AJ stood up to stretch her legs. Surprisingly, we were the only ones in detention. Unsurprisingly, we were bored out of our minds. She pulled something out of her bag, and when on my second glance I realised it was a ukulele, I burst out laughing. 

“Have you been carrying that around all day?” I asked, amused.

“‘Course not, it’s been in my locker since before school. I knew suffering through detention would be _torture_ if we didn’t at least have a decent backing track,” she explained her reasoning, and I let out another laugh. 

She finished tuning it, and sat back down with her boots up on the desk. AJ flashed me a grin, adding, “Before you ask: no, I don’t take requests.”

I rolled my eyes, “We share the same playlist, I’d like anything you played.”

“In that case…” AJ did a small drum roll on the table before launching into _House of Gold_ by twenty one pilots. _“She asked me, son, when I grow old, will you buy me a house of gold? And when your father turns to stone, will you take care of me?”_

I laughed, joining in.

_She asked me, son, when I grow old_

_Will you buy me a house of gold?_

_And when your father turns to stone_

_Will you take care of me?_

_I will make you_

_Queen of everything you see_

_I’ll put you on the map_

_I’ll cure you of disease_

She took over the next verse, moving her legs from the desk only to stand on her chair instead. Parker could be coming back at any moment, but AJ didn’t seem to care in the slightest as she continued. 

_Let’s say we up and left this town_

_And turned our future upside down_

_We’ll make pretend that you and me_

_Lived ever after happily_

We started the chorus together, and somehow I found myself sitting on my desk as AJ bridged the gap between her chair and desk, standing with one foot up on the wood as she leant towards me. 

_She asked me, son, when I grow old_

_Will you buy me a house of gold?_

_And when your father turns to stone_

_Will you take care of me?_

_I will make you_

_Queen of everything you see_

_I’ll put you on the map_

_I’ll cure you of disease_

_Oh, and since we know that dreams are dead_

_And life turns plans up on their head_

_I will plan to be a bum_

_So I just might become someone_

_She asked me, son, when I grow old_

_Will you buy me a house of gold?_

_And when your father turns to stone_

_Will you take care of me?_

_I will make you_

_Queen of everything you see_

_I’ll put you on the map_

_I’ll cure you of disease_

AJ collapsed back into her chair, laughing. “So, I get to meet these hologram boys tonight?”

“Actually, you get a performance from me and my band,” I grinned, careful not to actually say the word ‘hologram’. 

“As your best friend, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

~

After saying hi to Ray when we got back, I paused outside the studio, unsure of how to breach the whole ‘my band isn’t made up of holograms, it’s made up of ghosts’ topic. Ultimately, I decided on, “So I’ve been lying to you guys for the past few days.”

Ky narrowed his eyes at me, “Concerned but intrigued, continue.”

“My band aren’t holograms. They’re ghosts.”

AJ snorted, “I thought you were going to say something really weird for a second there.” 

“I’m not kidding. They’re a band called Sunset Curve that died in 1995. They appeared in the studio on Tuesday night and now me and Julie are in a band with them. We’re the only ones who can see them, but when we play with them, _everyone_ can see them,” I explained. 

AJ chewed on the inside of her lip, deep in thought. “Who else knows?” 

“ _That’s_ your first question?” 

“I’d like to point out that I have multiple questions,” Ky added, “But I have a feeling you’re about to answer them in the performance. Anyway, I knew you didn’t have the budget for holograms _that_ good. This is coming from the girl who blew all of her birthday money on guitar picks.”

“They’re cheaper to buy in bulk!” I protested.

“Did they _need_ to be galaxy print?” He pointed out.

I threw my head back and groaned, “It was for the aesthetic!”

AJ pushed past me and opened the doors to the studio, “I’ll believe it when I see it. Alright boy band, show me what you got!”

Luke, who had apparently been leaning on the other side of the door and listening, scowled at her. “Who are you calling ‘ _boy band’_?”

I laughed, before realising AJ and Ky had no idea why I was laughing, and hooked my arm through Ky’s to drag him into the studio and close the door behind us. “Right. This song is called _Now or Never_ , it was written by Sunset Curve’s lead guitarist Luke back in 1995. Normally I’d say ‘hope you like it’, but I _know_ you two are gonna love it, so I’m just gonna start playing.”

During rehearsals, we’d agreed if I start playing the intro, then Luke can join in with the singing and it’ll add the shock factor of them becoming visible. I gave him a nod as Alex counted us in, picking up one of my _galaxy print_ guitar picks from the side. 

_1, 2, 3_

_Take off, blast off_

_Count down till we blast open the top_

_Face first, full charge_

_Electric hammer to the heart_

AJ’s eyes widened as the boys appeared, Ky started grinning like he’d just won the lottery. 

_Clocks move forward but_

_We don’t get older no_

Luke nodded at Reggie again, bringing him over to share the mic. 

_Kept on climbing_

_Till our stars collided_

_And all the times we fell behind were just the keys to paradise_

_Don’t look down_

_‘Cause we’re still rising up right now_

_And even if we hit the ground_

_We’ll still fly_

_Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever_

_But living like it’s now or never_

I took the next verse, winking at AJ before I started. She continued to stare, wide-eyed and dumbfounded, but considerably impressed.

_Hear the noise in my head_

_It’s calling out like a force I can’t forget_

_One life, no regrets_

_Catch up, got no time to catch my breath_

Luke shared my mic as we all joined in the pre-chorus.

_Clocks move faster_

_‘Cause it’s all we’re after now, oh_

_Won’t stop climbing_

_‘Cause this is our time, yeah_

_When all the days felt black and white those were the best shades of my life!_

This time, both AJ and Ky joined in on the chorus, with AJ even standing on the sofa to play air guitar, completely confident even though most people would automatically assume they were embarrassing themselves in the same situation. 

_Don’t look down_

_‘Cause we’re still rising up right now_

_And even if we hit the ground_

_We’ll still fly_

_Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever_

_But living like it’s now or never!_

Alex started his solo, a massive grin on his face. _“We ain’t searching for tomorrow, ‘cause we got all we need today.”_

_Living on a feeling that’s been running through our veins_

_We’re the revolution that’s been singing in the rain_

I could’ve sworn AJ visibly swooned at Reggie’s solo, and I made a mental note that we should give Alex and Reggie more solos, their voices were _insane_.

_Don’t look down_

_‘Cause we’re still rising up right now_

Luke’s timing was once again impeccable, as he came in on the ‘now’, just after throwing the guitar over his shoulder and catching it as it slid back around. This time I was prepared, and didn’t let it affect my performance but I couldn’t help but marvel at the energy he brought to every performance.

_And even if we hit the ground_

_We’ll still fly_

_Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever_

_But living like it’s now or never_

_It’s now or never_

_(Now or never)_

I finished the final three chords and looked up at my two friends on the sofa, who had burst into a standing ovation. Another glance back at the band showed me that they were just as happy with the performance, and I quickly told them to start playing quietly so that AJ and Ky could interact with them. 

“That was insane!” AJ pulled me into a hug, even though the guitar between us prevented me from being able to get too close. She lowered her voice, adding knowingly. “That band has done wonders for your confidence— I don’t think I’ve ever seen you perform like that! It was _electric._ But I still think you should write that novel.” 

Ky introduced himself to each of the boys in turn, and they were soon talking animatedly about music, even after Reggie broke away from the group to flirt with AJ—who was very clearly flirting right back. 

“That couldn’t have gone better,” I sighed, relieved.

“Oh, give me a second—” AJ grabbed her brother and pulled him away out of earshot, and the two began muttering quietly to each other. I shot the guys a confused look, but no one seemed to have any idea what was going on until my two living friends turned back around wearing matching grins. “Alright. We’re in.” 

“You’re _in_?” Alex asked, frowning in confusion. 

“Well, you’re going to need a bodyguard, to help you deal with the adoring fans that you’re _definitely_ going to have at all the gigs you’re _obviously_ going to book,” AJ replied, like it was obvious. 

“And…” Ky took a bow. “Almost-professional photographer, at your service. Y’know, for music videos and stuff.” 

I shrugged, glancing back at the guys who were already nodding their heads. “Alright. You’re in.”

~

It had been almost two weeks since the guys appeared in Rose’s old studio, and Julie and Luke were hell-bent on spending every waking minute of the weekend in the studio writing songs. Unfortunately for Jules, spending all of Saturday in the studio with us meant that she needed to spend at least Sunday morning finishing off her remaining homework. 

I’d already finished mine the night before, curled up on the couch while the others worked on different parts of various in-progress songs. I kept alternating between maths and sketching, determined to capture Reggie’s concentration face as he tried to finish the lyrics of _Home Is Where My Horse Is_ , the country song he’s been writing. 

Alex had disappeared a while ago— plans with Willie, his ghost crush— and Reggie was sitting with Ray while he looked over photos he’d taken throughout the week. Luke poofed out a few minutes ago as well, most likely to pester Julie into coming down to write more songs. They were both as enthusiastic as each other, which was hilarious when it came to sharing ideas. 

That meant that for a short while, I had the garage to myself. Closing my notebook and tucking my pencil above my ear, I reached for my guitar and started to play the song that had been stuck in my head for the past few hours. 

_On the other side of a street I knew_

_Stood a girl that looked like you_

_I guess that’s déjà vu_

_But I thought this can’t be true ‘cause_

_You moved to west LA, or New York or Santa Fe_

_Or wherever to get away from me_

_Oh, but that one night was more than just right_

_I didn’t leave you ‘cause I was all through_

_Oh, I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell_

_Because I really fell for you_

_Oh, I swear to you, I’ll be there for you_

_This is not a drive by_

_Just a shy guy looking for a two ply_

_Hefty bag to hold my love_

_When you move me, everything is groovy_

_They don’t like it sue me, mmm, the way do me_

_Oh, I swear to you, I’ll be there for you_

_This is not a drive by_

It was nice to get a little bit of alone time. Not that I haven’t loved having the guys around, but they _do_ live here, which makes everything that much more lively than it would’ve been without them. I love rehearsing with them, but sometimes it’s nice to have a little bit of time to myself. 

_On the upside of a downward spiral_

_My love for you went viral_

_And I loved you every mile you drove away_

_But now here you are again_

_So let’s skip the how you been and_

_Get down to the, more than friends at last_

_Oh, but that one night is still the highlight_

_I didn’t need you until I came to_

_And I was overwhelmed, and frankly scared as hell_

_Because I really fell for you_

_Oh, I swear to you, I’ll be there for you_

_This is not a drive by_

_Just a shy guy looking for a two ply_

_Hefty bag to hold my love_

_When you move me, everything is groovy_

_They don’t like it sue me, mmm, the way do me_

_Oh, I swear to you, I’ll be there for you_

_This is not a drive by_

_Please believe that when I leave_

_There’s nothing up my sleeve but love for you_

_And a little time to get my head together too_

_On the other side of a street I knew_

_Stood a girl that looked like you_

_I guess that’s déjà vu_

_But I thought this can’t be true ‘cause_

_“Oh, I swear to you, I’ll be there for you, this is not a drive by,”_ I sang softly, _“Just a shy guy, looking for a two ply, hefty bag to hold my love, when you move me everything is groovy, they don’t like it sue me, mmm, the way you do me.”_

_Oh, I swear to you, I’ll be there for you, this is not a drive by…_

Honestly, I should’ve really been expecting to see Luke standing there when I looked up. His timing was always impeccable when it came to situations like these, and you could never actually tell how long he’d been standing there. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to say something. 

He matched my expression as he sat down on the piano stool. “Was that a Lita original you’ve been hiding away? Or something I don’t know yet?”

“ _Drive By_ , released by Train in 2012,” I explained as he opened his notebook and frowned down at one of the pages. “Whatcha working on?” 

Luke avoided the question, turning back to face me. “You don’t play acoustic very often.” 

“How would you know if you hadn’t been eavesdropping on me playing?” I put the guitar to the side, resting my elbows on my knees. “You have this brilliant habit of appearing _right_ when I’m finishing.” 

He laughed, “I don’t.” 

“You do.” 

“Do _not._ ” 

“Right,” I nodded, unconvinced. _“She keeps me calm but keeps my heart racing,”_ I sang quietly. 

_“All of the time when I am out chasin’,”_ he couldn’t help but finish the lyric, and I jumped up with a triumphant smile on my face. 

“Ha! I knew it! I was singing that song while making breakfast the other day and I _know_ no one else was in that kitchen!” 

He shook his head lightly, a smile creeping across his face as he raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, you caught me. But I don’t get why it’s such a bad thing. You have a killer voice and it’s no different to performing in rehearsals?”

“It is,” I sighed. 

“If you say so,” Luke trailed off, still smiling. 

I walked over and sat down on the piano stool next to him. “So what have you and Jules been working on?” If he noticed me changing the subject, Luke didn’t say anything and instead jumped straight into showing me the songs. He flipped to one of the pages in his notebook. 

“This one’s called Edge of Great. It starts off with Julie playing the piano, if you want to try,” Luke gestured to the sheet music as he pulled it out of the page behind and I looked at it before finding the correct keys. 

“You know,” I filled the silence while I scanned over the beginning bars. “Jules actually taught me to play piano. Well, I knew a little but her and her mom practically doubled my knowledge between the two of them.” My eyes scanned the music one more time, following it along as I started to play. 

_Running from the past_

_Tripping on the now_

_What is lost can be found_

_It’s obvious_

_And like a rubber ball, we come bouncing back_

_We all got a second act inside of us_

Luke jumped up, his guitar appearing in his hands as he did so to back me up. 

_I believe, I believe that we’re just one dream_

_Away from who we’re meant to be_

_And that we’re standing on the edge of_

_Something big, something crazy_

_Our best days are yet unknown_

_That is moment is ours to own_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of_

_Great_

_Great_

_Great_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great_

He took over for the next bit, and I stopped the piano so he could have the solo. 

_We all make mistakes_

_But they’re just stepping stone_

_To take us to where we wanna go_

_It’s never straight_

I joined in, getting up from the stool and picking up the music to take it with me. I mean, it’s not like those weird tv shows where all the characters just _magically_ know the lyrics and choreography to all the numbers. That would be stupid.

_Sometimes we gotta lean_

_Lean on someone else_

_To get a little help_

_Until we find our way_

_I believe, I believe that we’re just one dream_

_Away from who we’re meant to be_

_And that we’re standing on the edge of_

_Something big, something crazy_

_Our best days are yet unknown_

_But this moment is ours to own_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of_

_Great_

_Great_

_Great_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great_

I got so into it, I used the stool to climb on top of the piano and swung my legs over the edge to sing the next part. 

_Shout, shout_

_Come on and let it out, out_

_Don’t gotta hide it_

_Let your colours blind their eyes_

_Be who you are no compromise yeah_

_Shout, shout_

_Come on and let it out, out_

_What doesn’t kill you makes you feel alive_

Luke grinned at my enthusiasm, and I put the music to one side having finally memorised the rest of the lyrics. He leant against the piano, watching me as I continued, _“Oh, I believe, I believe that we’re just one dream away from who we’re meant to be…”_ He picked the guitar part back up again as I stood up, spreading my arms out. _“‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great…”_

_That this moment is ours to own_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great_

_On the edge of great_

_On the edge_

_Woah_

I sat back down to dangle my legs off the side of the piano, and Luke put his guitar aside to sit next to me, joining me for the ending. _“Running from the past, tripping on the now, what is lost can be found, it’s obvious...”_

I looked up to see Julie and Reggie in the door, having had an audience and not known for the second time today. I hopped off the piano gingerly, running a hand through my hair. “Got a little carried away, I think…” I cleared my throat. Surprised I didn’t stack it on the getting on and off the piano, to be honest. My socks aren’t exactly that grippy. 

“That was—”

Whatever adjective Julie was going to use to describe the performance got lost in Reggie’s excitement as he rushed over. “AWESOME! That was awesome! You guys killed it!”

“We did, didn’t we,” Luke agreed, shooting me another patented Patterson grin. He lowered his voice and leant in closer to whisper, “Still don’t get why you get so nervous about people watching when you can sing like _that_ , but I’ll announce myself next time I poof in.” 

~

After a lot of convincing— and I mean a _lot_ — Luke and Julie somehow managed to coerce me into helping them finish a song Rose started with Julie a long time ago. _Stand Tall._ Maybe it was the Rose part that got me to agree, or maybe it was Luke’s puppy dog eyes. I guess we’ll never know. 

_“Right now, I’m loving every minute,”_ Julie’s fingers danced over the piano keys as she sang, and Luke scribbled down that line and the next one as he finished it for her. 

_“Hands down, can’t let myself forget it, no. ‘Cause everything’s rushing in fast…”_ He sighed as Julie stopped playing, “What next?” This was the bit they kept getting stuck on, and I’d been playing around with lyrics in my head to see if anything could fit for a while now.

 _“Keep holding on, never look back?”_ I sang quietly, testing it out. Luke’s head whipped around to face me and Julie’s eyes widened in shock before they both turned to each other, nodding frantically and then turning back to face me. I frowned, “What? Why are you looking at me like that? Avert your eyes, weirdos, this isn’t a staring contest.”

They leapt back into action, communicating in a way I couldn’t understand. “And then we do the—”

“And add the—”

“What if we—”

“And then—” Luke jumped up, _“I’m going out of my mind!”_

“And then we do the chorus that my mom wrote!” Julie cheered, grabbing me and shaking me by the shoulders. 

I laughed, “It was just a suggestion, even if I hadn’t thought of anything you’d have gotten there eventually— you’re an amazing songwriter. I’m like a one-line-wonder.” 

“Be more confident!” If Julie could be bouncing up and down any more whilst still holding on to me, I’d be getting motion sick. “We’re celebrating with leftover ice cream.”

She disappeared back towards the house so fast you’d think she’d poofed, and I was left with Luke again. He sat down on the chair next to mine, leaning in and bumping his shoulder against mine despite the fact that he went right through me when he tried. “Got any more good ideas up in there?”

I scoffed, “Nope, that was my one good contribution of the day. Nothing else productive is going to happen until tomorrow.” 

He laughed, “Don’t sell yourself short. Come on, hit me with another good line. I know you’ve got one. It doesn’t have to be _Stand Tall_ related. Just give me a lyric, any original lyric, and we go from there.”

In a moment of weakness, I reached back and grabbed my own notebook, momentarily forgetting what was inside. “Knock yourself out,” I sighed. “Fifteen pages from the back.” 

For some reason, he insisted on flicking through from the _front_ , despite my instruction, which led to a rather awkward conversation. He stumbled across a drawing— a half-finished drawing, might I add— of _himself_. My eyes widened and I cringed, waiting in silence for him to say something. He scanned the page curiously, before announcing. “It’s me…”

“It’s unfinished,” I felt the need to add.

“It’s _awesome_.” 

I laughed weakly, “If I wasn’t familiar with your songwriting skills, I’d ask if you knew any other adjectives than ‘awesome’, ‘killer’ and ‘rad’?” 

He didn’t answer, still staring at the drawing. “Can I keep this?” 

“It’s unfinished,” I repeated.

“Don’t care, I love it.” 

I ducked my head to hide the flush creeping into my cheeks. “I mean if you’re that impressed by it, go ahead.” 

“You did this today? It’s from the earlier rehearsal, isn’t it?” 

“Mhmm…” 

Luke handed the book back to me, “Can you take it out? I don’t want to ruin it.” 

I nodded, quietly tearing the page out so he could keep it. Luke slid it into his own songwriting notebook with a soft smile on his face, and as I flicked to the next page in my book, he saw the one of Reggie. “I did this one as well.” 

“You nailed his concentration face.” 

“Thanks,” I laughed, skimming past the rest of the drawings to get to the messy page with barely finished lyrics on it. Related sentences shared a little bubble but that was the only organisation I had. There were doodles in between, some music-related and some not, and most of the words didn’t make sense anyway. Maybe they did when I wrote them, maybe I didn’t. For now, it was just a double-page spread of 2 am, soda-fuelled thoughts and bored class epiphanies. 

Luke turned the page sideways to read them better— some of the notes were written upside down, some at random odd angles— and nodded slightly when he saw one of the bubbles. “That could be a good start. Oh, I like that metaphor. Hey, do you mind if I add to this one?” 

I leaned over to see which one he was referring to. Surprisingly enough, out of a page of the last couple year’s random ideas, he’d managed to find the most recent one. It had been stuck in my head for two hours while I was trying to fall asleep last Saturday, and in the end I’d caved and gotten up to write it down. _“I wear your silhouette like a jacket, so I never grow cold…_ Goddammit, I spelt silhouette wrong,” I muttered to myself as I corrected the line. “What were you thinking?” 

_“We are the ones left when the cards all fold…_ What do you think?” 

I nodded, “Yeah, we should write that down. I like it.” I looked around the room, frowning. “Crap, did you see where I put my pencil? I could’ve sworn it—”

Luke smiled softly, reaching out and taking it from where I’d tucked it above my ear a while ago and apparently forget about it. He seemed surprised at being able to pick it up when it was so close to me, but then he held it out for me to take. My fingers curled around the end he wasn’t holding, hesitating a moment before I spun it around in my hands and scribbled the words on the page in the small free space next to the existing ones. 

“Thanks.”

He moved on, looking at one of the other lines, “Oh! I think I’ve got something that rhymes with this in my book!” Luke grabbed his own notebook, face creased in concentration as he flipped through the pages. 

Okay, so maybe sharing my ideas isn’t the _worst_ thing in the world.


	5. Play Until My Fingers Hurt, Write Until I Find The Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring a lot of songs, a passive-aggressive drawing, a performance that's the opposite of what they expected, and some good friends to balance out the decisions made by others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from "On and On" by the Score

“So…” AJ nudged me. “What did you do with your weekend?”

I shrugged, “Oh, you know. Rehearsals, music, sketching, _homework_.”

She perked up, “Rehearsals? I almost forgot, congrats on getting that gig tonight at the school dance.” 

I raised an eyebrow, “What gig? We’ve just been focused on writing songs, I don’t remember making any plan— _Flynn_ told you, didn’t she?” 

“She didn’t tell me anything, she’s been advertising it everywhere.” 

I rolled my eyes and texted Julie. 

Jules   
  
apparently we're playing the dance tonight   
  
funny how i'm in the band and i had no idea   
  
found out two seconds ago from our 'marketing team'   
  
flynn?   
  
who else lol   
  
guess we better put a setlist together   
  


~

“We’re playing a school dance? Sweet!” Reggie leaned over the piano to look at the flyer and I passed it over when I was done to let him have a better look. 

“It’s not exactly the Strip,” Luke pulled a face, and Reggie shot him a judgemental look. 

“Well we're not exactly alive, so maybe you should be happy we have our first gig,” he pointed out. 

I tried not to laugh at that as I glanced at the band name again. “Julie, Lita and the Hologram Band? Bit of a mouthful, isn’t it?” 

“We’ll workshop a better one soon. I wasn’t in love with the idea of playing the dance at first either, but it could be a great way for us to build a following, right?” Julie set the watering can down and moved to lean on the piano next to me. 

Reggie nodded excitedly, “Yeah. Yeah, we need to play wherever we can, whenever we can.” 

I agreed, “I’m down for that.”

“No, you’re right,” Luke conceded. “Let’s rock those kids’ faces off and _then_ play the clubs.” 

“And then record a single that gets a billion streams?” Julie suggested.

“I don’t know what that is, but hopefully it gets us a manager and a tour,” Luke grinned. 

I laughed, “Don’t forget we’ve already got a bodyguard employed.”

Luke raised an eyebrow at me, “AJ seems cool, but is she really _bodyguard_ material?”

I folded my arms. “She once knocked a guy out with a frying pan when he tried to steal her doughnut outside a Walmart. I’d say she’s more than bodyguard material.” 

Julie burst out laughing, “Oh my gosh, I remember that! The guy threatened to sue her for giving him a concussion but he couldn’t because he would’ve had to admit to stealing! That was an interesting time.” 

“Anyway, sorry for getting off track. And then we release a load of hit albums that top the charts,” I circled back around to the original topic. 

Reggie beamed, “Put out a country album that does surprisingly well ‘cause I can shred on the banjo.” 

“I’m looking forward to learning how to fiddle then,” Julie supported him. 

I held out my hand for a fist bump. “ _Home Is Where My Horse Is_ nation rise up!” 

“And before you know it, we’re being inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of fame!” Luke added. 

“But one of us isn’t there,” Reggie held up a hand. “Because we had a blowout in 2032. My money’s on Alex. He’s just so sensitive.” 

Luke nodded in agreement and Julie chuckled. “Now what are we waiting for? Let’s get rehearsing!” 

“Where is Alex?” Julie asked. 

Reggie smirked. “He’s on a _date._ ” 

“Oooh,” I waggled my eyebrows suggestively. “Where?” 

“Museum,” he revealed. 

“Nice!”

“Shall we get to work then?” I asked, gesturing to the instruments. 

Luke nodded, the first to grab a guitar. “Finally Free?”

~

An hour later, when Alex poofed in, I immediately spun around to ask him. “How was your date?” 

He sighed, “It wasn’t a date. Reggie, did you tell her it was a date?” 

“Yes,” Reggie didn’t even bother to lie. “Because it was a date.” 

“Dude, it was a date,” Luke agreed. 

_“Date.”_ Julie nodded. 

Alex sighed. “Seriously? Okay. What did I miss?”

“While you were on your _date_?” Reggie asked mischievously, and Alex shot him an unimpressed look. It was possibly the most unimpressed look I’ve ever seen, which is what made me burst out laughing so much I fell off the stool I had been sitting on. The group turned around at the sound of me hitting the ground and I stood up to dust myself off. 

“What? Carry on.” 

“Please don’t carry on,” Alex countered. 

Julie took pity on him and changed the topic. “Guess what? We have a gig.” 

“Cool! Where?” He sat down next to the drums. 

“School dance,” Reggie revealed. 

Alex’s smile faltered momentarily, but he recovered and nodded. “Slightly less cool, but we gotta start somewhere, right?” 

I lowered my voice and leant towards him. “What did you do on your not-date?” 

If I had called it a date, he probably wouldn’t have answered. “Screamed in a museum, actually. Very therapeutic.” 

I laughed, “I’ll have to try it sometime.” 

Flynn appeared, throwing open the double doors dramatically to announce, “Dance news! I don’t have a date, _but_ I don’t care because I’m so psyched to see you guys perform. Wait, are the guys here now?” She waved at the space behind Julie, and I stifled my laughter as she faced the complete opposite direction. “Hey, guys.”

Julie sighed, smiling. “Other way, sweetie.”

“Oh,” she spun around and waved in the right direction, and the guys waved back.”

Luke cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Now that Alex has graced us with his presence, can we start working?” 

“Yes!” Julie turned to Flynn. “We’re gonna rehearse, you wanna stick around?” 

Flynn shrugged, “I mean, I’m supposed to blow up 500 balloons for the school dance, but this sounds way better.”

“Ky will be pissed if you bail though,” I reminded her. “Don’t stay too long or I’ll end up with an earful. He’s on the lighting team, remember? If you don’t help with the decorations then he’ll have to.” 

“Fine,” Flynn rolled her eyes and laughed. “I’ll stay for two songs, max.” 

Carlos walked in through the open door midway through the conversation, walking straight through Alex as he made a beeline for Julie. “Hey Julie, remember those orbs from Dad’s photos? I… I think they’re ghosts.” Behind Carlos’ back, I shared a look with the guys, but my concern soon evaporated with his next words. “But don’t worry. This room is… is… This room is clean. I’m not getting the ghost tinglies.”

“Wrong again, little dude,” Reggie chuckled, and I had to fake a cough to hide my own laughter. 

“Have no fear,” Carlos assured Julie, before spinning around to point at me. “If they come back, I will protect you, because I am the man of the house.” 

Julie folded her arms, raising an eyebrow at him. “Isn’t Dad supposed to be the man of the house?” 

Carlos crossed his arms as well, and tilted his chin up. “There can be two.” He shrugged, “Dad needs all the help he can get, right?” He remembered something, pulling a shaker out of his pocket. “Oh, according to the internet, salt burns their souls out. A little sprinkle will keep them from ever coming in here.” 

Instantly the smiles dropped from Luke, Reggie and Alex’s faces as they stared at the small shaker in horror. Julie watched hesitantly and Flynn’s eyes widened as Carlos threw some of the salt in Reggie’s direction, and he scrambled off the stool to dodge it. Luke lifted his feet up to avoid getting hit but Alex got full-on showered in it, even though it went right through him anyway. He cried out, staring in horror, “ _Oh god I’m_ … I’m fine.” He straightened, pleased with himself. “Totally fine.” 

Julie cleared her throat, glancing at Flynn and subtly gesturing towards her brother. Flynn got the hint, throwing her hands up in the air. “Carlos, you know who’s hungry? Me. Um, salt me a path to the kitchen?”

He held up the shaker and nodded, “On it,” and the two of them disappeared, Carlos leading the way and Flynn watching as he threw it in front of them. 

“Phew,” Alex let out a breath. 

Reggie took his seat again, a secret smile on his face. 

“What?” I looked at him. “What’s that look for.” 

“Nothing,” he grinned even wider, playing a few random notes on his bass. 

“Oh go on, say it,” Alex sighed. “If it’s as bad as I think it is, say it.” 

“I was going to say, now that Alex has recovered from being a-salt-ed, we should start rehearsals,” Reggie announced, pleased with himself. 

I snorted, covering my face with my hands as Alex shook his head in disappointment and Luke tried not to laugh. Julie tried and failed to keep a straight face. “You’ve got the right idea,” she agreed, “Let’s continue rehearsal.” 

“Yes please,” Luke sighed. “But remind me later, there’s some Sunset Curve songs I wanted to show you guys.” 

I shared a look with Julie before spinning around to face him expectantly, “Now’s as good a time as any?” 

Luke grabbed his book eagerly, “Yeah, okay.” He sighed again when he saw what was sticking out of the journal. “Home Is Where My Horse Is? Reggie, stop putting your country songs in my journal.” 

“That was a _gift_ ,” Reggie pointed out. 

Luke patted him on the shoulder on his way over, “Thanks, buddy.” He placed the book on the edge of the piano next to me and Julie. “I dog-eared the ones that I think you’d slay.” He grinned at me and Julie, ignoring Reggie’s suggestions of, “maybe we should circle back to that?”

I leaned to the side of Luke to see Reggie. “You and me, next Saturday. We’re having a country music party.” 

Reggie pumped his fist triumphantly, “Yes!”

Country music isn’t my favourite, but he’s too excited for me to be able to deny him this. It’s what friends are for.

I leaned back over to Julie, watching as she flicked through the book. She passed the drawing that Luke had stuck in there and sent a knowing look in my direction, but I pretended not to notice. She found a non-dog-eared page, too intrigued to skip it as she lifted the book up and just out of my line of sight to read it. “Who’s Emily?” 

“That one’s not dog-eared—” he reached for it, but Julie hugged the journal to her chest teasingly as Luke shifted awkwardly. 

“If you could only know that I never let you go,” she read out the words, chuckling. “Wow, Luke, didn’t know you were such a romantic.” 

“He’s not,” Alex explained as he came over. “That one’s actually about—”

“No one.” Luke cut him off, reaching for the book again and failing as he attempted to come up with a believable explanation. “Uh, that’s just something that I tried, and…” he trailed off, changing the subject. “But if you go to the next dog-eared page I got a tune that’s— it’s got a killer beat.” 

Julie smirked, turning the page to the song in question as Luke plugged his guitar in to demonstrate. He started to play this guitar riff, and I recognised it instantly. It was from a Trevor Wilson song, and it was the first actual riff I ever wanted to learn to play on the electric guitar.

“Oh, so you want to sample?” Julie nodded. 

Luke stopped instantly at her comment, frowning. “What do you mean ‘sample’?” 

“Sample someone else’s music,” she explained. “Me, my mom and Lita used to sing that song at the top of our lungs all of the time. It’s a classic Trevor Wilson song.” 

Luke shook his head, “Nope,” he replied, popping the ‘p’. “It’s a classic _our_ song.” 

“Pure Sunset Curve. Never even heard of Trevor Wilson,” Reggie scoffed. 

“Maybe you’re mixing it up?” Alex suggested, “You know, with another song.” 

I laughed, “Molinas don’t mix up music. Trust me. Jules and his daughter used to be best friends. I think we know the song.” 

“I used to hang out at their place all the time, I know that song.” Julie rolled her eyes when they still didn’t believe us. “Here, I’ll prove it.” She pulled out her laptop and searched up Trevor Wilson, spinning the screen around to face the guys. 

“His first album had a shit ton of hits, but none of his latest stuff is as good,” I added, raising my hands in surrender before Julie even had a chance to call me out on my language. “What you just played was the first riff I wanted to play when I started to learn guitar.” 

Alex leaned in towards the laptop, narrowing his eyes at the picture of Trevor in the center of the screen. Reggie put an arm on Alex’s shoulder so he could get a better look, and Luke let his guitar hang behind his back so he could get closer. He froze, recognition flashing across his face. “That’s Bobby.”

Julie frowned, “Seriously, I just told you his name is Trevor.” 

Alex stared in disbelief, pointing at the screen accusingly. “Okay, great. Then… then he changed it, alright? That’s definitely Bobby. He was our rhythm guitarist.” 

She scoffed, “Trevor Wilson was in your band?” 

Reggie pulled a face, “I can’t get over how old he looks.” 

Alex’s nose crinkled in disgust. “He looks like a substitute teacher,” he spat.

“That’s the most accurate thing I have ever heard,” I whispered under my breath. “You have the most sass I’ve ever seen inside a human and that’s _including_ AJ when she’s sleep-deprived and running purely on caffeine. I wish you’d shown up years ago, I’d have won so many more arguments.” I caught the weird look Reggie was giving me and shrugged, “And for the music, obviously.” 

“What…” Luke trailed off as he nibbled on his lower lip, looking like a lost puppy. “What were his other hits?” 

“Get Lost,” I prepared to reel them off, counting on my fingers and pausing when Luke put his guitar down, the look of utter betrayal in his eyes.

“Yeah, I wrote that.” 

I blinked, “Are you kidding? That was my ringtone for _four_ years!” Now that he mentioned it, it did have a resemblance to Now or Never… “What about Long Weekend?” 

Reggie glared at Trevor/Bobby on the screen. “Luke wrote that one too.”

“Crooked Teeth?” Julie suggested.

Alex nodded, “And that. It was about Reggie.” 

_“What?”_ Reggie’s jaw dropped, “I thought it was about you!” He huffed, “I don’t like that song anymore.” 

“This is kind of freaking me out…” Julie tried to wrap her head around the situation. “Trevor’s songs are kind of big to me. He’s the one who introduced Lita and I to rock.” 

Alex laughed, but it was without humour. “Yeah, Luke introduced you to rock.” 

Hold up, all this time… my passion for music and love of rock came from _Luke’s music_? This was insane… I stood up, stunned. “That song-stealing jackass taught me to play guitar with those songs!” This time, Julie didn’t pull me up on my word choice.

_The first actual songs I ever learned to play… were Luke’s?_

“So this whole time, I thought you could’ve been connected to my mom. But instead, you’re connected to Carrie’s dad?” Julie asked, dumbfounded. “Out of all people, it had to be the one girl who had it out for me.”

I stared at Luke. I physically couldn’t tear my eyes away from him as he stood there shaking with quiet anger as he threw darts at the board on the wall, barely paying attention to see if they landed or not. “He _stole_ your music.” I repeated, “He _stole_ your music! What the fuck?” 

“Pretty sure it’s already on there, but add _that_ to our list of questions,” Alex sighed, sitting down on the floor next to the drum kit. 

“Back when Carrie and I were friends, the three of us used to talk about music all the time. He never mentioned you guys.” 

“That’s unbelievable!” Luke exploded. “He can take all the credit, and he doesn’t even mention us?”

“And he’s rich,” Julie added. “He has his own helicopter.”

But I could tell it wasn’t about that. It was never about that.

Luke threw the last dart and it bounced off the wall and hit the ground as he let out a frustrated groan. Alex stood up, “I’m sorry, he has… he has a… a _helicopter_?” 

“With his face on it,” I sighed, for some reason unable to leave that part out. Who would even want their face on a helicopter anyway? My face is _not_ made for big screens, let along big curved ones. 

Reggie looked at the picture of the helicopter in question, in front of the mansion. “And he gets to park it in front of that hotel?” 

“That’s his mansion,” she corrected, and he threw his head back to let out a sigh. 

“MANSION?” He echoed, and Alex turned to Luke. 

“Dude, we live in a _garage._ ” 

“It’s not about the money,” Luke protested. “It’s about the music!”

Alex and Reggie’s voices shot up a few octaves as they both said at the same time. “It’s a little bit about the money!”

“He could’ve shared it with our families!” Reggie complained. “Maybe then my parents wouldn’t have had their house turned into a bike shack!”

“What he did is steal our _legacy._ ” Luke sighed, calming himself only to turn to Julie and ask. “Where does he live?” 

She hesitated before giving in and answering, “Above the beach in Malibu.” 

Reggie’s mouth set in a grim line as Luke picked up his jacket, “Let’s go teach him a lesson.” 

“Guys, we need to think about this,” Julie pleaded. 

“Screw that!” I snapped, suddenly protective. “He doesn’t get to steal someone else’s music and pass it off as his own, and he doesn’t get to enjoy it!” I turned to the guys before they poofed out. “Haunt the living hell out of him.”

“Wait, what? Guys! We have to rehearse for the dance, this is our first gig!” Julie called out, but they’d already gone. She turned to me, exasperated. “Really? Really Lita? Is that the best idea?” 

“What would you do if it was you, huh? Or your mom?” I asked, knowing it was a low blow and doing it anyway. Not proud of it, never will be, but she _had_ to understand. “What would you do if someone stole someone you poured your heart and soul into, and not only didn’t give you any credit, but pretended like you never existed?” 

Flynn walked back in before either of us could say anything else we’d regret. “Alright boys, break time’s over. Let’s get to playing - mama needs her eye candy.” 

“They’re gone,” I told her.

Julie sighed, “We’ll fill you in in the car. I think we just unleashed three angry ghosts on the world.” 

My hands curled into fists as I spoke, “And another very, _very_ ticked off human.” 

“I’m driving,” Julie announced before I could. 

“Shotgun!” Flynn announced, taking a bite of her apple as we left.

I dashed back in and grabbed my sketchbook and pencil before sitting down in the backseat and pressing my elbow against the door to steady myself while I drew. It wasn’t long before the outline of three boys wearing sheet ghost costumes appeared, one with a fanny pack and drum sticks, one with a necklace and bass guitar, and one with a beanie and an electric guitar. 

So maybe I couldn’t _personally_ haunt him. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t use my own form of payback. 

~

By the time we arrived, I was just putting on the finishing touches on the drawing. It had the three ghosts, and then a message at the bottom. 

_Thought you could steal our music and get away with it? Well, that decision is coming back to HAUNT you! :)_

In the top left corner, I added the Sunset Curve logo before snapping a picture of the whole thing on my phone. The pun wasn’t the best, since I was short on time, but it served its purpose. I tore the sketch from the book and left it on the back seat as I folded the page neatly to put up my sleeve. 

Flynn jumped out first, and I got out as Julie locked the car. The large security gate stood at the end of the road towards the mansion, and I glanced up at it. Pin-code access, or… my eyes strayed to the slightly shorter maintenance gate next to it, which was padlocked. I pulled out my phone and dialled AJ. “Hey, can you walk me through picking a lock?” 

“Why do you know how to— oh, AJ, got it,” Julie nodded in understanding as I held out my hand for two hairpins. 

“Right,” AJ sighed. “But you’re gonna need to fill me in on the details and the _why_ at a later date. Also Ky is _pissed_ because it’s literally been him and Ethan all afternoon. Not that he’s complaining _that_ much, because E is single and cute, but he’s still hung up on Nick, y’know? Speaking of Nick, is his on-again-off-again with Carrie off-again yet?” 

“AJ, _focus_ ,” I reminded her, and she apologised and began to walk me through it. Five minutes later, the maintenance gate was being shut behind us and we were hurtling across the grounds and passed one of the swimming pools (yes, _one_ of the swimming pools) to get to the main house. 

Flynn rang the doorbell, and Julie peered through the glass and shot back when she realised Carrie was coming. She answered the door and with nothing else to do, we managed to chorus “Hey…” completely in sync. 

Carrie narrowed her eyes at us. “What are you two doing here? How’d you get over the security gate?” 

“Teamwork,” Julie replied without hesitation. 

“What do you want?” Carrie sighed. 

Flynn tried to come up with an excuse to get us inside the house, “Uhh… just thought you should know that Julie and Lita’s band is playing at the dance tonight!”

“And now you know,” I added, trying to fill the awkward silence. 

“You guys are acting weirder than usual…” she eyed us suspiciously. 

“Probably because we’re thirsty,” Julie lied. “Can we come in for a glass of water?” 

“And after that glass of water… can I use your bathroom?” I asked.

Carrie sighed, stepping aside to let us in. “Fine, if it’ll make you leave faster. _Don’t_ break anything.” 

We walked in, looking around in an attempt to find the guys. Well, Julie and I were looking, I’m not sure what Flynn was trying to accomplish by looking considering she couldn’t see them. “Where are you?” Julie muttered quietly. 

“Uh… I’m right here?” Nick waved from his spot on the couch and Julie froze. 

“Nick! Look, guys, it’s Nick… Nickster, Nicky-poo, Nick-a-licious…” 

I put a hand on her shoulder and whispered, “Stop talking.” 

“I’m trying,” she laughed awkwardly. “Help.”

“Hey, glad you’re here Nicky-poo,” Flynn tried to save the conversation, and Julie shot her a mortified look at the repeat of the nickname she was desperately trying to forget she’d used. “We wanted to tell you that Julie and Lita’s band is playing at the dance!” 

Nick sat up, “Oh yeah, no, I saw your post.” 

Carrie reappeared, holding three glasses of water. “These girls bothering you, babe?” 

“No, just telling us about the dance tonight,” Nick replied. 

I shrugged, “You should come."

“Right!” Carrie nodded, “The hologram band. How’d you learn how to do all that hologram stuff anyways?” 

“My friend Ky,” I lied. “He’s been helping loads.” 

Nick nodded, “He’s the photographer, right? I think he’s taking this year’s team photos of the lacrosse team.”

“Yeah, that would be him,” I smiled, knowing Ky would _flip out_ when I tell him not only does his crush know who he is, but he actually asked about him in conversation. “He’s looking forward to it. He’s also doing the lights at the dance tonight.”

“Wow, a man of many talents,” Nick acknowledged, turning to Carrie. “What do you… What do you say, babe?”

“Sure,” Carrie shrugged, sitting down next to him. “Let’s check out the hologram show.” 

“Great. Um… I’ll make sure all my buddies are there,” he sent an enthusiastic thumbs up in our direction. 

Carrie plastered on a smile, “Ooh, how exciting! That’s a lot of people staring at you.” 

I cleared my throat. That was the one thing I had been trying not to think about. “Anyway… bathroom?” 

“You remember where that is?” she raised an eyebrow. 

I shrugged, “Process of elimination?” I didn’t wait for an answer before making my way up the stairs. “Guys?” I whisper-shouted. “Guys!”

Before I could go any further, Trevor himself shot past me and I ducked out of the way. He kept muttering “Nothing Dr Crystal can’t handle. Nothing Dr Crystal can’t handle…” 

I sighed, walking out onto the balcony in time to see him getting into the helicopter across the yard. With the knowledge that he was leaving, I quickly darted into the master bedroom and pulled out my drawing, leaving it directly on top of his pillow. I glanced out the window and noticed the guys standing outside, for some reason pulling their pants up? God, you’d think being dead for twenty five years would make them less like children, but apparently not. 

I went back downstairs and out the door, folding my arms and raising an eyebrow at them. “How was the haunting?” 

“Surprisingly stress relieving,” Alex replied. 

I rolled my eyes, “Now that we’ve all got that out of our systems, do you think you can let it go?”

Julie appeared behind me, “Seriously guys?” 

“You’d do the exact same if someone stole your songs,” Luke protested. 

“But you have new songs, with _us_ ,” she pointed out. 

“Guys,” I sighed. “Yeah, he stole your legacy. So create a new one! It’s not like you’re not talented enough! Luke, you can write circles around that man and if anything this proves it.”

Julie nodded, “The best way to get back at Trevor is for this band to do great. And for that to happen we have to play at dances, and then clubs…”

Luke sighed, “And tours, I know.” 

“I’ll see you guys at the school,” she folded her arms. “We go on at nine. Please don’t be late, there’s gonna be a lot of people there.”

“We got it, alright? Don’t worry,” Alex reassured her. Julie disappeared back inside the house and he turned to me, “So when you said ‘ _all_ got that out of our systems’...” 

I sighed, pulling out my phone to show the drawing. Luke grinned, “Awesome…”

Reggie laughed, “He’s going to freak when he sees it! I just wish we’d done more…”

“Look, I get that this whole situation sucks, but the dance is our priority, okay? See you at nine. Y’all better be ready,” I warned, pointing at them in what I hoped was an intimidating fashion before I spun on my heel and went back inside. 

~

I met Julie outside after we’d both got changed for the dance and when she came downstairs, I noticed instantly that she was wearing some of Rose’s old stuff. I made sure she knew that I’d picked up on it. “Suits you,” I nudged her arm and she smiled.

“Finally went through her stuff…”

“Well, you look amazing,” I confirmed, readjusting the position of my guitar case over my shoulder. 

When we walked in, I spotted AJ instantly. She waved me over and grinned. “How excited are you? Scale of one to ten.”

“Nervous,” I confessed.

She rolled her eyes, “Well, duh. But I mean aside from that.”

“Seven.”

AJ pumped her fist, “You guys are going to _kill_ it! Ky’s doing lights at the moment, but he’s scheduled Jason to take over his shift while you guys are performing. Julie looks really awesome in that outfit by the way. Oh, and is Reggie here yet?” 

“That’s a lot of words,” I put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ma need you to slow down a little. Also the band is supposed to meet us here in half an hour. Wanna join me backstage?” 

She looped her arm through mine and marched me towards the stage, where Julie and Flynn were chatting. “This is so cool. I’m like your roadie. You’re bringing me on tour, by the way.”

“Since when am I going on tour?” I raised an eyebrow at her amusedly. 

AJ shrugged, “Since I said so.” 

Or in AJ terms: I have big plans, either join me or get steam-rollered into joining me eventually anyway. It’s always best to agree initially, and then have doubts later rather than having doubts first and losing time to prepare. If your parents have ever said “if your friend jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” then it’s basically that scenario. AJ is _that_ friend. 

Forty five minutes later, fifteen minutes after we were supposed to go on, the guys still hadn’t shown up. Flynn told the crowd that we were running behind schedule, but to look forward to the _Julita and the Phantoms_ concert— she’d had time to brainstorm band names in French class. I hovered at the side of the stage nervously. If the guys didn’t show, we couldn’t go on, but usually at dances there was rarely an actual DJ or a live band, instead using a crappy playlist with songs that no one recognised. 

They were excited for the band to perform. 

But the band wasn’t _here._

“What’s the hold up?” Ky asked, leaning against the wall and frowning. 

“I don’t know,” I groaned. “They should be here. Why aren’t they here?”

“Flynn’s good at stalling,” AJ reassured me. “That’s good enough in the meantime. Besides, her beats are flawless and are still placating the audience.”

_Where the hell were they?_

They better not be trying to get revenge on Trevor again. I thought they’d managed to get it out of their system earlier? I certainly had, but I was more annoyed and I’d never been directly affected by his betrayal. As much as the guys were hurt by what he did, the best way to get back at him was to make _this_ band a success, so why aren’t they here?

A glance out of the corner of my eye told me that Nick had arrived, and was talking to Julie. And if Nick was here, then that meant— 

“Incoming,” AJ warned as Carrie walked over, a fluffy pink shawl around her shoulders.

“I can’t tell if the crowd is getting restless or bored…” she pretended to ponder it over for a moment, before plastering on a concerned yet somehow also patronising look. “Never a good sign. Oh, hi Julie. Got a new bag?” She pointed at the object in Julie’s hand and I decided now was the perfect time to cut my way into the conversation. 

“That’s the hologram projector. We got an upgrade after the rally.”

Carrie raised an eyebrow, “Oh, so simple. You know, I was expecting something a little more… sophisticated.”

“It’s what’s on the inside that count,” Julie retorted, like one of those little motivational posters you see in the guidance counselor's office.

“Yeah, that’s what a lot of people have to tell themselves,” the other girl snickered. “Come on, Nick.” 

Nick sent an apologetic smile in Julie’s direction as he followed Carrie back down onto the dance floor. I checked my watch and cursed, it wasn’t looking good for us. Julie began to pace and I was on the verge of doing the same. 

_Where the hell were they?_

Almost an hour later, and the crowd was getting restless. A few people had actually come up backstage to _ask_ when the band was coming, and we kept having to send them away. Carrie wasn’t wrong when she noted the crowd was getting restless, and I’m not sure what annoyed me more; the comment itself, or the fact that she was _right._

“Shit, Jules,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “Where are they?” 

“Guys, I can only stall for so long. I think you should just play by yourselves,” Flynn poked her head around the curtain at the side of the stage. “I mean, holograms or no holograms, you’ll be amazing.”

I glanced at Julie and her expression mirrored my own. Neither of us seemed comfortable. It was like we drew our energy from the guys when we performed, and everything that made us anxious just drifted away with the music. Without them, there were nerves, there was panic, and we weren’t ready. Julie couldn’t perform without them, and I couldn’t perform without her or them. 

It was a little bit of a situation. 

“They’ll be here, they have to,” Julie reassured Flynn, even though it was a lie. 

And then, the worst happened. Flynn had just gone back out to the stage when the crowd started chanting. “Phantoms! Phantoms! Phantoms!” 

Yeah, not a good sign. 

Well, if it were any other time, it would be awesome. But considering the _Phantoms_ weren’t here, and it was just ‘Julita’, we had a bit of a problem. 

AJ ducked her head around the curtain. “They want live music. If you guys don’t do something, _Carrie_ might. Do you really want that?” 

“No,” Julie and I replied quickly, but there wasn’t really anything we could do. 

With a sigh, Ky kicked off from the wall, grabbed a mic, rolled the sleeves of his hoodie up to his elbows, and walked out on stage. I shared a look with AJ— _what the hell was he doing?_ — and we watched in confusion as her brother addressed the crowd. 

“Right, so we’re having a few technical difficulties still, and we’re sorry about that,” he led with, and I swear I heard a ‘boo’ from the back of the hall. Or maybe I imagined it. Or maybe I said it to myself, under my breath and without realising. Judging by the raised eyebrow Julie sent in my direction, it was definitely the latter. “So we’re going to give you a warm up act in the meantime. Obviously, Flynn doesn’t open for anyone, because the girl is a powerhouse of her own right, and is an act all on her own. So surprise! It’s me. I’m the warm-up live music act of the evening,” he revealed.

My jaw _dropped._

AJ let out an audible gasp. 

Ky was doing _what_ now? He stood on the stage, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he got Flynn to stop DJing. She sent him a slightly confused thumbs up and joined us at the side of the stage. “What’s he doing?” 

“No idea.” 

“Do you think he thought this through?” 

“Nope,” AJ replied. 

Yeah, he didn’t think this through. Knowing Ky, he had a good idea at heart but putting it into practice wasn’t his strong suit. He had gone out there without any backing music, without any instruments, and was currently clearing his throat about to perform. 

There were only so many ways this could go.

And then he started to sing. Now, don’t get me wrong, Ky is one of the most talented singers I’ve ever met. Even a capella like right now, he could definitely give the Pitch Perfect movies a run for their money— well, the third one at least— so he sounded amazing as he started _Shut Up And Dance_ (it has been his go-to safety song for years), but he was losing the crowd without a band, and I could tell he was struggling. 

_Oh don’t you dare look back_

_Just keep your eyes on me_

_I said, you’re holding back_

_She said, shut up and dance with me_

_This woman is my destiny_

_She said, ooh-ooh-hoo_

_Shut up and dance with me_

So, without thinking, I swung my guitar around to my front and walked out on stage to join him. I mean, this song is iconic, and even though I missed the timing for the beginning (which I knew the fingerstyle to), I knew most of the notes for the rest of it. And if that failed, there were only four chords anyway: G, C, Em and D.

I walked over to him during the instrumental and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Mom friend overdrive?” I nodded. “Thank god, I’d kind of been banking on it.” We both laughed and I let him take the next verse.

_We were victims of the night_

_The chemical, physical, kryptonite_

_Helpless to the bass and the fading light_

_We were bound to get together_

_Bound to get together_

He held out the mic and I leaned into it. 

_She took my arm_

_I don’t know how it happened_

_We took the floor and she said_

_Oh, don’t you dare look back_

_Just keep your eyes on me_

_I said, you’re holding back_

_She said, shut up and dance with me_

_This woman is my destiny_

_She said ooh-ooh-hoo_

_Shut up and dance with me_

While we’d been onstage, AJ had somehow managed to leg it to the music room and grab a bass guitar, and run back in time to appear from the side next to a nearby mic stand to take the next verse without warning. I could almost laugh, if anyone was good at dramatic entrances— other than the guys, who to everyone else but Jules and I literally _poof into existence_ — it was her. 

_A backless dress and some beat up sneaks_

_My discotheque, Juliet teenage dream_

_I felt it in my chest as she looked at me_

_I knew we were bound to be together_

_Bound to be together_

_She took my arm_

_I don’t know how it happened_

_She took the floor and she said_

Somehow we’d managed to get the crowd into it again, and they were no longer complaining about the lack of holograms because I think everyone can agree how iconic this song is, and it’s seeming to distract them and buy us some time until the guys get here. 

_Oh, don’t you dare look back_

_Just keep your eyes on me_

_I said, you’re holding back_

_She said, shut up and dance with me_

_This woman is my destiny_

_She said ooh-ooh-hoo_

_Shut up and dance with me_

I took the guitar solo, which has undoubtedly been one of my favourite parts of the song since the first time I heard it, and Ky shot a glance past me and towards the audience, specifically where Nick was with his friends on the side. He seemed to be enjoying the performance, which gave Ky all the courage he needed to put everything he had into the next verse.

_Deep in her eyes_

_I think I see the future_

_I realise this is my last chance_

_She took my arm_

_I don’t know how it happened_

_We took the floor and she said_

Without a drummer, we stomped our feet in the build up to the chorus, and Flynn and a relieved Julie joined in from the side. A few people even clapped along in time to the beat just like the bit after the bridge in Now or Never, and that felt good to watch until AJ, Ky and I alternated the lines in the chorus. 

_“Oh, don’t you dare hold back, just keep your eyes on me,”_ Ky sang, and nudged me over towards AJ and her mic stand as I played the guitar. 

AJ continued, _“I said, you’re holding back, she said shut up and dance with me.”_

_“This woman is my destiny, she said ooh-ooh-hoo...”_ I nodded at Ky and AJ to tell them we should do the next line together, but no communication was needed as we all came in with:

_Shut up and dance!_

_Don’t you dare look back_

_Just keep your eyes on me_

_I said, you’re holding back_

_She said, shut up and dance with me_

_This woman is my destiny_

_She said, ooh-ooh-hoo_

_Shut up and dance with me_

_Ooh-hoo, shut up and dance with me_

_Ooh-hoo, shut up and dance with me_

I waited for a minute after I finished the last note, allowing it resonate before letting my guitar hang there by the strap as I looked back and forth between Ky and AJ, my two best friends who just did a spontaneous performance of one of our favourite songs at a school dance to buy me some time until the ghosts in my fake-hologram band could show up. If that’s not friendship, what is? 

“What now?” I turned to Ky, covering the mic with one hand before I spoke. 

He shrugged, “I’ve got enough juice to keep running all night. We just have to keep the crowd happy with some wicked covers until your little phantom squad gets here.” 

AJ rested an arm on my shoulder, “Exactly. We’ve got your back. Besides, this is kind of fun, I see the appeal.” 

“Are you guys serious?”

“Dead serious,” she pointed out. “And I can make that joke without it being insensitive because the guys are notably _not_ here. But yeah, we got this. Which song next?” 

I could barely contain my grin. I don’t know what I did to deserve these people, but I wouldn’t give them up for anything. 

So we kept playing. _Back from the Edge_ by James Arthur was one of the most fun, but Dua Lipa’s recent release of _Levitating_ was the perfect highlight for AJ’s skills both on the bass and singing. Not to mention it was really fun to do and dance to a little— and a crowd favourite thanks to how recent it was. We also did _1983_ by Weathers— which got a lot of people dancing— and one of the earlier (I’m talking really early) One Direction songs called _Tell Me A Lie_ because it has a good guitar part and the chorus is really fun to sing. We also did more than one of this years’ new American Authors songs, like _Microphone_ , _Counting Down_ and _Brick By Brick_. 

We were just finishing _Addicted To You_ by Sam and Sounds when I felt my hand beginning to cramp up from playing for so long. I glanced at my watch in disbelief when I realised it was almost eleven. I’d broken a guitar pic and my hands felt like I’d end up with blisters over the top of the callouses I’d developed over the years, if that was even possible. 

_I’m addicted to you_

_And your love is enough for me_

_It’s set me free_

_I’ll be safe in your arms_

_Just as long as I look to you_

_My mind’s renewed_

I ran a hand through my hair and glanced at Julie from where she was sitting on the floor next to Nick, who had turned up to join her just over a song ago. Judging by the subtle shake of her head, they weren’t here yet. 

And if they weren’t here _now_ , then I was beginning to lose hope that they were coming at all. I looked over at Ky as he took a large sip of water from a bottle on the side, his throat undoubtedly sore. AJ was nursing a finger that was bleeding slightly and sweat was making some of her hair cling to her forehead, but she seemed alright. It had been intense. Brilliant, but intense. I don’t know how people manage to do entire tours, night after night of this. It must be so damn tiring. 

Absolutely exhausted, I took off my guitar and put it back in the case to one side. It was definitely time to call it and we couldn’t sing anymore or we would barely be able to talk tomorrow. My hands were killing me and I was dead on my feet and this night wasn’t as bad as it would’ve been without my friend’s jumping in to save the day but I couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if the guys _were_ here.

Flynn took back over DJing, slipping her headphones back half-on and patting me on the back as I passed. “Y’all were awesome. I got it from here. Any sign of the guys?” 

I shook my head in defeat, “Nope.”

“Ouch, that’s rough,” she smiled sympathetically before frowning in annoyance. “Those ghost boys are in for it when I next see them. Well, when you guys next see them and I can yell at the space where I think they’re standing. Leaving you and my girl Jules hanging… I won’t stand for that.” 

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’m not exactly pleased about that either.”

“You’ve stalled as long as you could, I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I know you guys would’ve killed it tonight with Finally Free.”

“Thanks,” I sighed, walking over to where Julie was now standing next to Flynn. “It’s not happening is it?” I began to ask, but Nick was already walking past me and borrowing Flynn’s mic. Julie watched in horror, opening her mouth to protest but closing it when the words didn’t come. “What did you do?” I hissed, and she continued to stare as Nick got everyone’s attention. 

“He knows the projector isn’t broken, he knows we were faking the ‘technical difficulties’ but he thinks it’s because I was too scared to play. I guess he assumed that because I liked his pep talk I was ready to go,” she finally guessed.

“Hey everybody!” Nick shouted, pumping his fist in the air. “We fixed the hologram thing. Who wants to see a show?” 

The crowd let out a row of cheers and if they could scream I knew that’s what my aching hands would be doing. Flynn looked between Julie and Nick in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on as AJ and Ky vacated the stage to stand next to me. 

“What’s happening?” Ky asked.

AJ reached a conclusion, “Bad things.”

“Give it up for Julita and the Phantoms!” Nick cheered, encouraging Julie to come out and onto the stage. She grabbed the mic nervously and I moved to stand by her side. 

“Uh, hi,” she smiled weakly at the crowd. “So… here’s the thing… even though we got the machine fixed, thanks to Nick, I can’t seem to link up with the guys. WiFi, am I right?” Julie laughed nervously, before turning somber. “I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to cancel.” 

I put a hand on her shoulder and nodded slightly, letting her know that it was okay. 

The crowd on the other hand, thought the opposite, which gave Carrie the perfect opportunity to come in and try to steal the show. She waltzed up onto the stage and smirked, “Anybody know the heimlich? Julie’s choking…” 

My mouth pulled into a thin line and I struggled not to physically throw myself at the girl in pink as half the audience seemed to laugh at her joke. Behind me, I heard AJ mutter under her breath as she rolled up her sleeves and cracked her knuckles, “Anybody know the homicide hotline? ‘Cause I’m about to report a dead body— hey!” she complained in indignation as Ky wrapped an arm around her shoulders in what some might think was a casual fashion, but others would know that he was physically restraining his sister from tearing Carrie Wilson limb from limb. 

Carrie reached over and plucked the microphone from Julie’s hands. “Only one way to save this dance. Who wants to see Dirty Candy?” 

Flynn reached over and detached one of the volume controls on the DJ equipment. “Oops, knob's broken.” She shrugged in mock-apologeticness.

“Okay, two can play at this game,” Carrie narrowed her eyes at us as she spun around to address the crowd. “Party at my house!” 

The crowd cheered and followed her out the door, and Nick— after a moment of watching between Carrie and Julie in shock— followed. 

Flynn put an arm around Julie and pulled her into her as she sighed. “Well that kind of backfired. Oh, I mean, the _whole_ night wasn’t a bust. AJ and Ky killed it, and the new guy found someone!” 

The short kid with the instrument bigger than him was holding hands with another girl on the dance floor, swaying to non-existent music. I sat down on the edge of the stage and unzipped the case with my acoustic guitar in. It was typical that I’d be prepared for the worst case scenario being the power cutting out, rather than the worst case scenario being _the rest of the band not showing up._ Even though my fingers felt like they were about to fall off, I pulled out a pick and started to play a soft melody that I’d been messing around with over the past few days. At least then the two kids could dance to some actual music. 

At least their night would end on a high note. 

~

By the time my watch beeped for midnight, Julie, Flynn, AJ, Ky and I were clearing up the rest of the decorations at the dance. For what it’s worth, popping balloons is a very therapeutic thing to do when you’re angry. Julie and Flynn were tackling one of the balloon arches, AJ was getting rid of the decorations along one of the walls, and Ky and I were doing the other arch. 

“Thanks for having my back,” I bumped my shoulder against Ky’s. 

He shrugged, “You always have ours. Although tonight made it clear that those ghosts don’t have _yours_ , and that bothers me a little. AJ’s even decided to give Reggie the cold shoulder, and those two are half-way to whatever dating kind of dating is possible between people who are living and people who, well… _aren’t_. Anyway, change of topic. What was that tune you were playing earlier? On the acoustic?” 

“I don’t know, it’s been floating around my brain for a week or so and a couple of days ago I wrote a bit of it down. Luke kind of helped my confidence about writing and we work really well together so I was considering showing him tomorrow but he’s not exactly someone I want to be around right now after what happened tonight…” I trailed off.

Ky pulled a face, “Still can’t believe they bailed. Their loss. They had the chance to perform with some of the coolest singers I know and they blew it, _and_ they didn’t even get to see how great you did on that set that we did.”

“You know what song we should have played? _Someone To You_ by BANNERS.”

He threw his head back and groaned, “That would have been _iconic._ Next time we get a chance to jam together it is happening. Actually, how about now?” Ky put down the bag he was holding to put the popped balloons in and started to dance a little. “ _I don’t wanna die or fade away, I just wanna be someone, I just wanna be someone._ ” 

“Ky, we’re supposed to be clearing up,” I laughed, letting him grab my hand and make me do a little spin. “And you know I suck at dancing.” 

He ignored me, continuing to dance and sing. “ _Dive and disappear without a trace, I just wanna be someone, well, doesn’t everyone?”_

_“And if you feel the great dividing,”_ I finally gave in. _“I wanna be the one your guiding, ‘cause I believe that you could lead the way.”_

_I just wanna be somebody to someone, oh_

_I wanna be somebody to someone oh,_

_I never had nobody and no road home_

_I wanna be somebody to someone_

_And if the sun starts setting, the sky goes cold_

_Then if the clouds get heavy and start to fall_

_I really need somebody to call my own_

_I wanna be somebody to someone_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you_

_I don’t even need to change the world_

_I’ll make the moon shine just for your view_

_I’ll make the starlight circle the room_

_And if you feel like night is falling_

_I wanna be the one you’re calling_

_‘Cause I believe that you can lead the way_

_I just wanna be somebody to someone, oh_

_I wanna be somebody to someone, oh_

_I never had nobody and no road home_

_I wanna be somebody to someone_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you_

_The kingdom come, the rise, the fall_

_The setting sun above it all_

_I just wanna be somebody to you_

_I just wanna be somebody to someone, oh_

_I wanna be somebody to someone, oh_

_I never had nobody and no road home_

_I wanna be somebody to someone_

_And if the sun starts setting, the sky goes cold_

_Then if the clouds get heavy and start to fall_

_I really need somebody to call my own_

_I wanna be somebody to someone_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you, ooh_

_Someone to you_

The song drew to a close and I pulled Ky into me for a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sighed, resting my head on his shoulder. “How did I manage to get a friend as good as you?”

“You had the misfortune of meeting my sister, and you have good music taste?” he suggested, laughing. 

Flynn stood up, “I’ma get us some ice cream from the cafeteria. Fools gave me the keys. After that we can crash at my place and forget about this whole nightmare?” She stood up.

AJ shrugged, “Why don’t y’all come back mine instead? It’s closer to here.” Flynn nodded in approval. 

“Deal, but I need a hand with the ice cream.” 

AJ shot out the door after her, “I can’t promise I won’t eat any on the way back though!”

Ky rolled his eyes as he pulled away, “I’m gonna make sure the school doesn’t think they’ve been robbed tomorrow.” 

“We are ready to rock this dance!” Reggie shouted as the guys poofed in, before frowning. “Which is clearly over?” 

I didn’t say anything until Ky had left, walked over towards Julie but changed direction as soon as my friend was out of earshot. She joined me and we both folded our arms and waited for an explanation. For a while I’d been worried about what kind of trouble the guys could have gotten into, but now they seemed completely unscathed, I was more than a little pissed.

Luke started first, “We are _so_ sorry that we bailed on you.”

“Yeah,” Alex seconded. “The night really got away from us.”

“And the twins,” Reggie added sadly, and Luke elbowed him in the arm.

Julie sighed, “Just please tell me it had nothing to do with you guys getting back at Carrie’s dad?”

“What? We wouldn’t—” Luke tried to lie at the same time as Reggie said, “No! We wouldn’t do that!” and Alex stuttered “Us? No!”

They were so obvious about lying I didn’t even know what to say. I pinched the bridge of my nose and frowned in disappointment. “Seriously? At least make it convincing.” 

“Okay, look, it was something we needed to do,” Alex tried to explain. 

Luke stepped forwards, pleading. “But we’ll do whatever it takes— We’ll play the next school—”

“What?” Julie’s eyes filled with tears. “Another dance where you can bail and make me look like a fool? Save it. You know what really sucks? Our songs were good. And all three of you knew what I’ve been through, and how tough it’s been for me to play, and then you do this?” She took a breath, “Bands don’t do that to each other. _Friends_ don’t do that to each other. This was a mistake.”

Luke stared, barely able to get the question out. “You mean the school dance, right?” 

“No, I mean joining a band with you guys.” She stormed out, wiping away tears as Luke called after her. He turned to me next, once again pleading. 

“You can’t mean that, come on, _please._ Talk to her?” 

I scoffed, “You think I’m on your side after the stunt you guys pulled tonight?” I sighed, as the anger simmered down and left me with only disappointment. “Look, I don’t actually care where you were, or what you were doing, just… I hope it was worth it. I really do.” And with that, I walked away. Reggie and Alex stepped aside to let me through, but Luke stood there frozen even once I’d made it clear where I was walking, and walked straight through him. The familiar shiver ran through my body as I passed through, and it was almost as if I could _feel_ his guilt, _feel_ how bad he felt. 

Well, I felt pretty shitty too.


	6. I Felt You Walk Right Through Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friendship. Gotta love it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from "To Be Human" by Sia and Labyrinth

I woke up earlier than everyone else and set a reminder on AJ’s phone to let her know I’d already left. I put last night’s clothes back on and started the walk back home. Sure, it would’ve made more sense to have gone straight to school since AJ and Ky _did_ live pretty close, but I also needed to grab my workout gear for dance and put my guitars back in the studio. The fingers on my left hand seemed to have more blisters than they did healthy skin so I had a feeling I’d be taking a few days’ break from playing. 

Stopping by the studio first, I peered in through the window to make sure the guys weren’t in there so I could ditch my stuff. The door was open slightly but luckily it was empty as I slid inside and rested the two cases next to the couch. Something caught my eye on the piano and I realised it was Luke’s notebook. I reached for it, hesitated, and then left it where it was. 

Before I’d end up running into (or through) the guys, I decided to leave quickly and let myself into the house so I could pack the sports clothes into a bag. I chose a pair of leggings and a cropped hoodie with an outline of the solar system on it and shoved them into my gym bag with my trainers and sports bra. I took off the clothes I’d worn to the dance and tossed them aside so I could grab something more casual, pulling the new outfit on without a second glance.

I grabbed an apple on my way out and re-tied my hair before putting my earphones in and beginning the walk to school. _Glitter and Gold_ by Barns Courtney was the first song to start playing and I used it to block out everything else until I arrived.

~

“Remind me why I’m in this class again?” I asked mournfully as Ky stopped me from falling flat on my face for the third time in as many minutes. 

“Peer pressure?” He suggested, only just grabbing me as I stumbled again. “Ugh, it’s just not fair,” Ky groaned again, returning to his previous rant about how the lacrosse team had partnered up with the _other_ dance class for this semester. “I could be dancing with _Nick_ , right now Li! _Nick!”_

I laughed, rolling my eyes as I followed the steps again, my head permanently to the side so I could follow what Ky was doing. “He would swoon if he saw your incredible dance moves,” I replied as I let him spin me. “Shit, we have to get this right by next Friday? I’m doomed, Ky. _Doomed.”_

“I’ll come around a few times after school in the next week, work on it with you?” He suggested, “But in return, you gotta help me with that psych homework?” 

“Deal,” I grinned, as we marked through the steps once more. 

~

When school had finished, I joined Julie for the walk back to the house and texted Ky good luck. The team photos for the lacrosse team had been rescheduled to this afternoon and as soon as he got the email, my friend had practically been vibrating with excitement. He even ran home (and I mean _ran_. It takes about twenty minutes to get there and back on a good day, and Ky did it in _seven._ ) to get his good camera at lunch. 

So it was time to face the guys.

Just as we expected, they had been waiting for us to get home. What we _hadn't_ expected, was for them to choreograph a mini ‘I’m sorry’ number to perform as soon as we opened the garage doors. 

_“We’re sorry,”_ Reggie popped out from being Luke.

 _“So sorry,”_ Alex appeared on the other side of him before they harmonised.

_“We’re super duper crazy stupid sorry.”_

(Jazz hands and all.)

“In case you missed it, we’re really sorry,” Reggie added, still mid-jazz hands. 

Julie sighed. “Yeah, I got that part.”

“We’ve been here for like three hours,” Alex explained, holding up a hand to high five Reggie at the execution of their ‘sorry’ number. If I had less self-control, I’d have forgiven them there and then. Right now, I’m trying to activate more of my self-control because that whole thing they just did was frickin’ adorable but I’m also still _really_ pissed at them. 

“We almost sang to Carlos,” Luke shrugged. 

Reggie nodded, “He comes in here a lot. Mainly to use the bathroom.”

Alex pulled a face. “It’s not our favourite part of the day.” 

Luke took a step forward, turning serious. “Lita, Julie, it wasn’t okay that we flaked on the dance last night. We know we let you guys down.”

“And none of us wanted to disappoint you,” Alex added apologetically. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to us since we became ghosts.” 

“So… in hopes that you’ll rejoin the band,” Luke took another step towards us and I shot Julie a look out of the corner of my eye in anticipation for what he was going to say. He held out a flyer and I took it cautiously, waiting for more information. “We booked a new gig.”

Reggie grinned, “A mega important, life-changing gig.” 

I scanned the flyer. _Eats and Beats Live Music Night._ Believe it or not, I’d actually heard of this. It _would_ be good exposure, but how the hell could we know if they were going to bail on us again? I would rather die than have a repeat of last night, and my hands are still paying the price. Sure, they definitely looked like they were feeling really guilty about what happened… but just because someone feels bad about something doesn’t mean they aren’t going to do it again.

“Check it out, tons of managers go here to listen to new bands,” Luke explained. “All we gotta do is blow them all away, and we’re living the dream.”

I was caught. On one hand, this seemed like a great opportunity. On the _other_ … I was still hesitant after what happened at the dance. I decided not to make a decision until Julie said something, so I passed the flyer over to her to take a look. She furrowed her brow at it, before watching Luke calculatingly. 

“So this means a lot to you, huh?” She asked rhetorically, moving on without waiting for a reply. “Kinda like how playing in front of the entire school meant a lot to Li and I.”

Reggie frowned, “Sounds like sarcasm…” he lowered his voice to whisper to Alex. “I’m starting to think our plan isn’t working.” 

Alex sighed, “Look, we know we messed up—”

“But we need you guys in the band,” Luke insisted. 

“And we needed _you_ ,” I replied flatly, folding my arms.

Julie almost laughed as she pointed a finger at Luke accusingly. “Of course you need us. Because without us, no one can see you guys play. You know, I thought that the music we were writing was special, but you’re too obsessed with your past to even care.” 

“I do care,” Luke stressed, hurt. “Our band has a real chance at greatness. I’m not gonna let that get away from us _again._ ” 

“Uh huh,” she mused. “Right. So then why did you bail on us to get back at Trevor?” He faltered, rendered speechless as she continued. “I’ll tell you why. ‘Cause there’s only one thing you care about, and that’s yourself.” Julie turned on her heel and stormed off, the flyer for the live music night flapping in her hand as she walked away. 

Luke took half a step in the direction she’d disappeared in, and I almost thought I saw a tear slide down his face.

“Dude, she didn’t mean it,” Alex tried to talk to him, but Luke took one look back before poofing out. 

“Where’s he going?” Reggie asked quietly. 

“Where do you think?” Alex sighed. “Remember what today is?” 

I frowned, my eyes constantly flicking between the two remaining guys and the spot where Luke had been. “What’s going on? Where’d he go?” 

“We need to fix this…” Alex muttered almost to himself, and for a moment I couldn’t tell if he was actually talking to himself, or Reggie. He looked up at me for a second, “We need to grab Julie. It’ll be easier to show you.” 

~

Half an hour later, after Alex’s passenger-seat instructions to Julie of where to drive— she still won’t let me get behind the wheel since that time I almost backed into Principal Lessa in the school parking lot. Apparently, I’m ‘a danger to society’ and ‘should only drive when no one else is on the roads’. 

“Where are we going again?” Julie asked with a sigh as she pushed her glasses up her nose and checked the mirror before changing lanes. 

“Remember that song ‘Emily’?” Alex asked, “Oh, take a left here?” 

Reggie finished, “We’re going to show you who that’s actually about.” He pointed at the house on the end of the row. “This is it. This is where Luke’s family lives.” 

When we arrived at the house, the four of us— even though only two of us were visible— had to sneak through the garden in order to see through the large sliding glass patio doors into the kitchen. We ducked down behind some of the garden furniture and looked in. Luke was sitting on the kitchen counter, tears streaming down his face as he curled his knees up to his chest and watched the woman as she finished the cake. 

“This is his family?” I asked. 

“So…” Julie hesitated. “Emily’s his mom?” 

Alex and Reggie both nodded as Alex added. “Yeah, he comes here a lot.” 

“He thinks we don’t know,” Reggie watched mournfully. “But we’ve been following him. All he does is just hang out like this and watch them. They never really do anything though.”

As I watched Luke watch his parents set the table, I realised I’d never wanted to hug a person more than I did in that moment. My hand curled around the arm of the chair I was hiding behind and I rested my head against it, unable to stop the tears from welling in my own eyes at the sight.

Emily put the cake down on the table and sat down opposite her husband. “They’re having cake? That’s something?” Julie noticed, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

“It’s a birthday cake… for Luke,” Reggie explained. 

I felt my heart shatter. “How did… how didn’t we know that he was in this much pain?” 

“I wish we could do something,” Julie agreed.

“It’s even worse because when he died…” Alex almost didn’t finish. “He left on bad terms. You know, his parents didn’t want their seventeen-year-old in a rock band, so… he just left. He never got the chance to make up with them.”

Luke let his feet dangle off the edge of the counter for a moment before he dropped down onto the floor and slid into the empty chair between his parents. They had just lit the birthday candle and he leaned over, his face tearstained, so he could blow it out. The two adults looked around to see what could have put the flame out but when they didn’t see anything, they lit it again and held hands as they watched the wick burn down. 

“That’s why Luke was so angry,” Reggie explained. “If Trevor had given Luke credit for writing all the songs, then… his parents would’ve known his dream was worth chasing.”

“They would’ve been _so_ proud,” Julie whispered.

Alex stood up, slightly hidden from view of the kitchen by a large plant. “We know how bad it hurts whenever someone that should’ve had your back… completely lets you down. We never meant to make you guys feel that way.” 

“We love our band,” Reggie added quietly. “And Luke does too. Please give us another chance.” 

I leaned over and put a hand on Julie’s shoulder. She leant into the gesture, letting her head fall on top of it as I asked. “Jules?” 

“This band… it means as much to us as it does you guys,” she replied finally. “We all need this.”

_We all need each other._

So we pretended we were never there, drove home, and started rehearsal.

There was a long discussion at the beginning of the rehearsal about how I was going to play the guitar in Finally Free with half my left hand covered in blisters, but in the end we decided that I’d share the seat at the piano with Julie and join her at the beginning with the same vocal part, and we could just drop the second guitar part that I’d been working on. 

We were working out the new kinks at the beginning of the song when Luke poofed in. He flopped back into one of the chairs but shot up instantly when he registered the fact that we were all there. “Woah,” he looked around, clocking what was going on. “You’re—”

“Grab your guitar,” I raised my hands to show off my blisters. “We got work to do and only one of us is in any state to play.” Luke frowned when he saw the blisters but I brushed it off. “Relax, I needed a break anyway. Besides, we’ll finally get to see how ‘Julita and the Phantoms’ sounds when I’m not carrying us on rhythm like always,” I smirked, and Luke raised his eyebrows, biting his lower lip a little. 

“Oh alright then, you’re on,” he grinned as he grabbed his guitar and slung the strap over his head. His smile faltered slightly and he ducked his head for a second. “What made you guys come back?” 

I shrugged, “We realised how important music is to all of us.” 

“And we’ve lost so much already…” Julie nodded. “We can’t lose this too.”

“Thanks,” Luke smiled slightly, before the extent of his usual demeanour returned. “Alright boss, where are we at?” 

I glanced around, “Take it from the pre-chorus?” Julie, Alex and Reggie nodded, but before we could start I leant over the keyboard from where I was sitting next to Julie and whispered to Luke. “By the way, happy birthday.” 

Luke’s eyebrows raised a little as he looked between me and the guys in disbelief, trying to figure out how I knew before he brushed it off and Alex was already counting us in. 

~

When rehearsal had finished, I texted Ky and AJ about the gig while Julie texted Flynn on the way back into the house. I tried to get some of my homework done, but my mind was on… _other things._ No matter what I tried to focus on, I couldn’t help but circle back around to Luke’s birthday. With a sigh, I pulled out my laptop and my notebook and found the video that AJ had uploaded of us singing _Bright_ at the pep rally. I froze the video at the perfect moment and screenshotted it, pulling up the photo separately so I could sketch it out. The best present was either a drawing or a song, and since the only time I’ve been successful writing songs was when I was writing _with_ Luke, it would be a bit weird if I got him to help me write his birthday present. 

I’d chosen the frame where Julie was hyping up Reggie, Alex was mid-drumstick-trick and Luke was sharing my mic as I walked backwards across the stage, leading him into the center. It was probably my favourite part of the whole performance. I wasn’t even sure how to describe the energy that came with performing with the guys, but the first time was so _electric_ , I’ve never felt anything like it. It made me feel like I could do _anything._

I was half-way through adding some of the details to Alex’s drum kit when I had a thought, and wedged the book under my arm to grab some old painting supplies. When I went back into the studio, he was there and I grinned at the chance to ask him about what I was planning. He agreed quicker than I expected, and helped me lay down some newspapers around the drums so we could plan it out. There was already a cover on the front of the bass drum with the Sunset Curve logo on, so I set it aside for safekeeping before designing our new logo. _Julita and the Phantoms._ While I worked, Alex sat next to me with suggestions and general conversation which was nice. I hadn’t had much time to talk to him alone since the night before the presentation. 

“It looks cool.” He agreed. “But you know what would make it better? If you used a darker colour to add shadow and a lighter colour for highlights.” 

_“Genius,”_ I grinned.

It wasn’t long before the logo was finished and I left it to dry while I sat on the sofa to finish Luke’s birthday present. Alex sat down next to me, peering over. “Whatcha doing?” He asked, intrigued, and I swatted him away despite the fact that my hand went straight through his arm. 

“Luke’s birthday present,” I confessed. “Just a little sketch.” 

“That’s more than ‘just a little sketch’,” Alex raised an eyebrow suggestively. “It’s awesome, by the way. Great action shot.” 

“I was in the middle of adding the details on your drums when I got the idea for the logo.”

“You excited for the gig tonight?” He asked. “Sorry that you can’t play.”

I flexed my left hand and glanced at the blisters. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Ditching us was a dick move but I’m not gonna hold it over you. Hey, you know what you should do? Invite Willie to the gig.”

Alex paled, something I didn’t even think was possible as it involved all the blood to leave his face— blood that he no longer had— and I instantly caught on to the fact that something was wrong. “I think he’s busy,” he lied, rubbing the back of his neck and tapping his foot. 

I put the sketch to one side and turned to face him fully. “Alex, I’m going to give you one chance to tell me what’s wrong. Talking about Willie the other day you literally _lit up_. You’re smitten. So why, when I bring him up now, do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? No pun intended. This is a serious situation, and I definitely did not mean to make a ghost pun.” 

He sighed, “I’ve seen him since the other night… but I also haven’t. I don’t know what’s going on, but he’s avoiding me. I saw him at Eats and Beats earlier when Luke signed us up for the show, but he poofed out before I could catch him.”

“That’s rough,” I replied sympathetically. “You need some cheering up. When you’re sad, do you listen to sad songs to feel better or upbeat songs?” 

“Depends,” Alex shrugged.

“Okay, so we’ll try both,” I decided. “Sad first, but in case that makes you worse, we’ll do a happy one after. We’ll see how it goes.” 

He let out a soft laugh, “Thanks, Lita. But you don’t need to. I know you want to finish Luke’s present.” 

“Luke’s present can be finished in the car. You’re sad _now_ , so you’re taking priority,” I replied pointedly as I scrolled through my phone until I found the acoustic version of _The Man Who Can’t Be Moved_ by the Script. “This song is one of my go-to crying songs. Like, let it all out. And then afterwards, from my serotonin playlist, _Little Talks_ by Of Monsters and Men. 

Alex blanked, “I don’t know either of those songs.” 

“You will when we’re done.” 

He laughed again, “Okay.”

The soft piano notes from _The Man Who Can’t Be Moved_ started and I sang along quietly. _“Going back to the corner where I first saw you, gonna camp in my sleeping bag I’m not gonna move…”_

~

Normally, picking outfits was easy. But this time it _mattered._ This wasn’t a ‘Lita grabs random things in her wardrobe and somehow it looks coordinated’ kind of situation, this was a ‘Lita needs to look good because there are important people at this gig’ kind of situation. I stepped back and slid down until I was leaning against the side of my bed. Julie looked as amazing as ever, wearing a leather vest that used to belong to Rose and a turquoise dress paired with some bike shorts underneath that you wouldn’t think worked but she managed to make it look like she’d come straight out of a catalogue. 

I wasn’t having that kind of luck. 

“Help,” I whined at Julie as she hovered in the doorway, an amused look on her face. “How do you manage to look so good all of the time? I could never.” 

“Li, you literally always look good, and you don’t even try,” she replied. 

“But it _matters_ tonight.” 

She shook her head in disbelief, rifling through the wardrobe and throwing a pair of black jeans at me. “Put these on.” Julie almost disappeared into the closet, but she reappeared a moment later with a black and dark turquoise checkered shirt and dropped my pair of blue galaxy print sneakers at my feet. “And these.” 

“What would I do without you, Jules?” I smiled appreciatively. 

Julie rolled her eyes, “Not sure, but it would probably involve needing bail money.” 

I opened my mouth to protest before conceding and admitting that actually, with the combination of me and AJ, that was a very real possibility. “Okay, that’s fair. Meet you downstairs?” 

“Actually, I’m grounded. So we’re sneaking out,” she revealed. 

I pulled on the shirt and rolled up the sleeves, putting on the jeans and sneakers before addressing the situation. “I’m cool with that, but _why?”_

“I overslept at AJ’s and missed the first three classes, including a calculus test. Hurricane Tia came in and convinced Dad to send me to my room for the rest of the night,” she replied sheepishly. “I know she means well, but…” 

“My mom gave you the ‘gutter of life’ speech, didn’t she?” I laughed. “Yeah, she’s like that. At least her heart’s in the right place though. So how are we doing this? Window?” 

“Luke suggested the window. The guys are currently waiting outside just below.” 

I grabbed my notebook and black leather jacket and opened the window. True to their word, the three boys were hovering just underneath. I held the jacket out and dropped it, “Catch, please!” Reggie was the only one that looked up in time, and he grabbed it mid-air. I nodded appreciatively before letting Alex have my notebook and swinging myself out of the window. “You done this before, Julie?” She shook her head. “Well in that case, watch me _closely._ ” 

Julie raised an eyebrow, “Have _you_ done this before?” 

“Yes.”

I dangled my feet until I reached the trellis and slowly began to lower myself onto it to climb down. Ray had gone out— taken the car too— which left my mom and Carlos deep in discussion at the kitchen table. It looked like Carlos was trying to convince her to do his homework, but she was hell-bent on them figuring the answers out _together._ Or at least, I’d been in that scenario myself enough times for that to seem accurate. 

When I let go and dropped the final few feet, I stumbled slightly but easily regained my balance. These shoes weren’t exactly made for climbing. Julie followed my lead and began to make her way down, while the guys watched Carlos and my mom through the window to make sure they weren’t looking. Reggie handed me my jacket and I shrugged it on. 

Julie was surprisingly skilled at this, considering she hadn’t done it before. 

“We ready to go?” Luke asked.

“Meet you there?” I suggested, pulling out my phone to check the bus schedule. 

He nodded, and Reggie and Alex poofed out. Luke gave us a little salute that made me laugh before joining them at the venue. Julie and I managed to get onto the street without being caught, and started our walk to the bus stop. We were halfway there when a car honked its horn at us and pulled up beside us. 

The window wound down slowly, revealing a smirking AJ in the passenger seat and Ky behind the wheel. 

“Need a ride?” 

~

The four of us arrived at Eats and Beats and spotted Flynn first. Julie raced over and I followed just behind. “Are we late?” she asked Flynn, and her friend shook her head in response. 

“Too early,” she replied with a sigh, cocking her head in the direction of the stage. Carrie winked at the audience as she put her mirrored sunglasses on, decked head to toe in pink.

“Dirty Candi? How’d they get on the list?” AJ frowned. 

“Her _daddy_ probably made a call,” Flynn rolled her eyes.

Ky nudged me, “Your boys here this time? You know, I was sceptical when you said you had a gig with them.” 

Before I could answer, the audience began to cheer as Carrie’s music kicked in.

_Whenever I walk in the room_

_All the focus on me_

_The way I talk, the way I move_

_They all want on my team_

The other Dirty Candi dancers joined her, and they all synchronously tossed away their sunglasses. 

_Not trying to brag, brag_

_But I’m flawless_

_I’m taking over your playlist_

_Ain’t perfect, but I can’t miss_

_Yeah_

Luke nodded behind me, enjoying the performance, and Alex started to tap his foot in time to the music. 

_The party don’t start till I walk in_

_I’m stealing all the attention_

Alex poofed into the middle of the performance, a look of shock on his face as he realised what he had done, even if only four of us could see him. 

“What?” Julie looked around, confused, and Luke and Reggie shrugged in response.

_Don’t get me started on mentions_

_Yeah_

Alex somehow managed to find space between the dancers to join in on the choreo, and I couldn’t help but grin. 

_Some might say I sound conceited_

_They don’t get the shine that I get_

_Some get jealous, they can’t help it_

_They wish they were me_

Alex spun around, enjoying himself before poofing back next to us. 

_I keep the party going all night, all night_

_I set the trends that you all like, all like_

Luke laughed as he appeared next to us, and Julie shook her head in disbelief. Alex grinned proudly as he watched the performance. I ducked my head, barely able to contain my laughter. “This is better than any show I’ve ever been to,” I announced. Ky frowned at me, and I had to explain. “Alex is having the time of his afterlife right now.” 

“You having fun out there?” Julie asked him. 

He cleared his throat awkwardly, “It’s not my fault. It’s my... um… it’s my feet.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, unconvinced.

“Put me back in, coach.” He poofed away with a smile, and we watched the rest of the show.

_I make an interest when I don’t try, don’t try_

_‘Cause all I see is all eyes on me_

Alex appeared back behind Carrie again, vibing with the performance and improvising his own part. 

_When I grow up, I wanna be me, be me_

_I’m my own goals just talking honestly_

_Must have won the lottery_

_Ain’t no one as hot as me_

_Stealing looks, it’s robbery_

_Everywhere I go all eyes on me_

I laughed as all the Dirty Candi girls ducked, oblivious of the dancing ghost that jumped into the air behind them. 

_I only lead, I never follow, follow_

_I never open ‘cause it’s my show, my show_

_Don’t know if people think I’m shallow, shallow_

_‘Cause all I see is all eyes on me_

We probably cheered louder than everybody else as the performance drew to a close, which might have confused Carrie a little since we don’t exactly get along, but she seemed to soak up the applause anyway. Alex struck a pose at the end, before bowing and accepting our applause. 

“Making me blush,” he grinned, poofing back down next to us. 

Reggie pushed him playfully and Julie rolled her eyes. 

Alex realised we were all staring at him and cleared his throat again. “I… um… I was just doing that for you guys.” 

“Yeah, okay, you can stop smiling now then,” Reggie laughed with him. 

“I’m not gonna lie, that was… kind of good,” Julie admitted, although it was hard to know if she was talking about the performance or Alex’s dancing. 

“Yeah, I forgot why I hate her so much,” Flynn shrugged. 

Carrie left the stage and walked straight towards us, “Hi girls. Isn’t it past your bedtime?” 

“Now I remember,” Flynn whispered. 

I rolled my eyes, “Carrie, I’m literally in the year above you.” 

“If you’re looking for Nick, he didn’t come,” Carrie pointed out, her words filled with venom. 

“That’s not why I’m here,” Julie stepped towards her, more confident than I’d ever seen her. 

A guy stepped onto the stage, “Okay, it looks like we’re closing the night out with one more group,” he announced. “Julita and the Fat Ones.” 

We all turned an accusing look to Luke and he raised his hands in surrender. 

_“Really?”_

“Yeah, man. My handwriting _sucks._ ” 

Carrie snickered, and I ignored her reaction to the introduction as we made our way past her. “‘Never open ‘cause it’s my show’, huh? Guess you didn’t expect this when you wrote that lyric,” I mused, smiling in a mock-apologetic way. She rolled her eyes and stalked off, and Ky and AJ gave me matching thumbs up as Julie and I made our way onto the stage. 

Julie sat down behind the keyboard and connected her mic. I slid into the seat next to her and took a deep breath. This was my first time performing in front of people without my guitar. One time in a feedback session after music class Mrs Harrison told me I tend to use it as a shield to hide from the audience, or some weird metaphor like that. I instantly thought of that John Mulaney screencap that’s like _‘we know but, hey’,_ in a mildly offended tone. 

“It’s actually ‘Julita and the Phantoms’,” Julie clarified before starting, but since no one responded she just shifted awkwardly and prepared to play. She covered the mic for a second. “We’ll be fine.” 

“This is weird for me,” I confessed. “No guitar.”

“You’ve got me, you’ve got the guys, and you’ve got a killer voice. You got this,” she reassured me. “Together?” 

I smiled. “Together.” 

Flynn flicked the switch on the fake hologram projector and gave us a thumbs up. Ky sent an encouraging smile and AJ pretended to count us in using invisible drumsticks. I nodded at Julie, and she started to play. 

_“Hearts on fire, we’re no liars, so we say what we wanna say,”_ she started us off, her voice slowly catching everyone in the venue’s attention. 

I continued from there, _“I’m awakened, no more fakin’, so we pushed all our fears away.”_

We did the next part together, and I felt myself relaxing and enjoying the music more. 

_Don’t know if I’ll make it_

_‘Cause I’m falling under_

_Close my eyes and feel my chest_

_Beating like thunder_

_I wanna fly_

_Come alive_

_Watch me shine_

The guys appeared and I was the first out of my seat. Julie followed me, and we both stepped out onto the main part of the stage and towards the standing microphones.

_I’ve got a spark in me_

_Hands up if you can see_

_And you’re a part of me_

_Hands up if you’re with me_

_Now ‘til eternity_

_Hands up if you believe_

_Been so long and now we’re finally free_

Jules took the next verse while I vibed with Reggie, Luke and Alex behind her. _“We’re all bright now, what a sight now, coming out like we’re fireworks. Marching on proud, turn it up loud, ‘cause now we know what we’re worth.”_

I stepped up to the mic on one side of Julie at the same time as Luke did on the other so we could sing together. _“We know we can make it, we’re not falling down under, close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder…”_

_And I wanna fly_

_Come alive_

_Watch me shine_

_I got a spark in me_

_Hands up if you can see_

_And you’re a part of me_

_Hands up if you’re with me_

_Now ‘til eternity_

_Hands up if you believe_

_Been so long and now we’re finally free_

Luke and Reggie shared a mic for the backing vocals while Julie came over to me so we could do the same.

_I got a spark in me_

_Hands up if you can see_

_And you’re a part of me_

_Hands up if you’re with me_

_Now ‘til eternity_

_Hands up if you believe_

_Been so long and now we’re finally free_

Julie spun away towards Reggie as he took his place on the other mic, and I walked towards Luke like I had done in the performance of Bright, in the scene that I had spent the car ride over finishing sketching. _“I got a spark in me,”_ I sang, before holding the mic out to him. 

_“I got a spark in me,”_ he repeated, leaning in closer. 

I took the next line, _“And you’re a part of me.”_

Luke acted as my echo, singing, _“And you’re a part of me,”_ to continue the trend we had started.

_Now ‘til eternity_ _(now ‘til eternity)_

_Been so long and now we’re finally free_

We all spun around to face the front, and I felt myself practically buzzing with the energy the performance created. With this feeling, it was hard to believe I could have ever been nervous. It was electric, I felt _unstoppable._

_I’ve got a spark in me_

_Hands up if you can see_

_And you’re a part of me_

_Hands up if you’re with me_

I chanced a look back at Luke, and he sent a grin in my direction. I _was_ unstoppable.

_Now ‘til eternity_

_Hands up if you believe_

_Been so long and now we’re finally free_

_Finally free, yeah_

_Been so long and now we’re finally free_

_“Finally free,”_ Julie took the last note, raising her tambourine and slinging her arm over my shoulder at the same time as she finished. _“Yeah…”_ We took a bow, and the guys disappeared, creating gasps from the crowd like no other. “Thank you,” Julie smiled. “We’re Julita and the Phantoms.” 

“Tell your friends,” I added with a wink. 

We left the stage and Flynn pulled Julie into a hug, and I was powerless to object when Ky and AJ did the same with me. “You guys crushed it!” Ky smiled, ruffling my hair. 

“You know,” AJ wondered out loud. “I know that’s Luke’s brand, but I think Reggie does the whole sleeveless thing way better.” 

I snorted as Reggie’s eyes widened from where he’d poofed in behind AJ recently enough to catch the tail end of the comment. “Why don’t you tell him yourself?” I asked, spinning her around and positioning her in front of him. “I’ll translate a response.”

AJ looked up to where she guessed his face was, and Reggie leant against the bar, grinning. She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet as she decided on what she was going to say, suddenly a bit less confident than she was initially. “So. Reggie, last name unknown, you’re hot and I like the way you play bass. If we figure out a way to do this, you wanna go on a date?” 

His eyes widened even further, and Reggie’s mouth hung open for a moment. AJ waited for an answer, but he still hadn’t recovered. I decided to give him a verbal nudge. “You good, Reg?” 

“What?” Reggie snapped back into focus. “Yep. Hi. I’m fine. I’m rad, actually. So good. Great. On the edge of great, you could say!” He rambled. 

“That a yes?” AJ asked, hands on her hips as she waited for any indication. “Oh wait, I have an idea.” She pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and scribbled on it. _Date me. Check Y/N._ She’d left two boxes blank underneath the yes or no options, and held out the pencil for him to take. 

Reggie gently eased the pencil from her hand with a small tug and grabbed the paper, and I swear I’ve never seen anyone more excited to answer a multiple-choice question in my life. Satisfied with the _yes_ box ticked, he finally handed the paper back to AJ. 

For the first time since I’ve known her, AJ _squealed_ in delight. “Right. It’s a date then.” 

If AJ could have seen him, she’d have known that he pumped his fist to celebrate at the same time as she did. Ky leant towards me and patted me on the shoulder as he whispered, “If he hurts her, I’ll find a way to kill him. But if you ever tell AJ I said that, I’ll murder you instead.” 

I rolled my eyes fondly. “You could kill me, but who would help you hide the body? We all know I’d be the first to volunteer and I can’t do that if I’m already dead.” 

He narrowed his eyes at me judgmentally for a moment before turning to talk to Flynn. 

“Hey. Hey!” Luke tried to get our attention. “Whoever Carrie was trying to impress is coming this way.” 

Julie and I spun around, leaving Flynn, Ky and AJ to pick up the hint to do the same. 

“Ooh,” Alex studied the woman walking over. “She looks all _business._ ” 

“Wait. Who should do the talking?” Reggie looked around. “Right. The girls. Obviously.” 

“You got this,” Luke nodded, and we prepared to meet potentially one of the most important people in the room. 

The woman held out her hand, “Hi, I’m Andi Parker, and I would—”

And then it all went downhill. 

“Julie. Carmelita. It’s time to go,” Ray announced, folding his arms sterly. 

AJ pulled a face, “Busted…”


	7. Tongue Tied, Screaming on the Inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ah, chapter seven. coming in at over 8k words.
> 
> Birthday presents, dancing, impromptu guitar riffs and... *shudders* f e e l i n g s...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from "Is It Just Me?" by Emily Burns

Ray folded his arms, “Lita, you’re a year older. You are supposed to be the responsible one!” 

I snorted, before immediately trying to compose myself to avoid further scolding. “That is true. I also now realise that was an inappropriate response to that comment. But Uncle Ray, our band is _amazing._ I really hope you come to our next show.” 

He sighed, “Go inside, your mother’s waiting. You weren’t grounded to begin with, so this isn’t _entirely_ on you. But we can talk later.” 

I sent Julie an apologetic look and mouthed _‘good luck’_ as I opened the front door and slipped inside, almost crashing into my mom as she flew out the door. 

“THE HOUSE IS HAUNTED!” She screamed, almost knocking me sideways in an attempt to get out. She latched onto my shirt, dragging me out the house with her as she tried to get away. “We have got to go! Now, _mija!”_

My eyebrows shot up as we ground to a halt in front of Ray and Julie, who both seemed in slightly better spirits than they had been in when I left them a few moments earlier. I locked eyes with Julie and she groaned. 

“It’s okay, ma. Ghosts aren’t real,” I lied, trying to diffuse the situation. 

“What happened?” Julie asked. 

Ray put a hand on his sister-in-law’s shoulder, “Victoria, I know you want us to move but this is a little extreme. I… I told you, we’re okay.” 

“I’ll let Carlos explain, he refuses to leave!” She protested. “If movies have taught me anything, when a house is haunted, you run!” 

“Maybe the ghosts are nice?” I suggested as she ran down the drive and threw herself into her car. “Well on the bright side,” I said quietly, “At least she can’t ground me if she’s busy running from ghosts?” 

Julie glared at me. 

~

For the second time that night, I found myself climbing out of my bedroom window, notebook wedged under my arm as I made my way to the studio. The guys were there squeezed together on the couch even though there was still loads of room left, leaning over Luke’s notebook. I smiled, watching them practically sit on top of each other. 

Reggie was the first to notice my arrival, and he leapt to his feet when he saw me. “Lita! Hey. So AJ, is she like a flowers kind of person? Or does she prefer food, like chocolate. Or chocolate covered flowers? Wait, is that a thing? Is that a _good_ thing?”

Alex stood up and sent me an apologetic look at Reggie’s ambush, “Hey Reg, how about we just get a selection?” 

“What, you mean right now?” Reggie’s eyes lit up. “Let me grab my jacket, we’re gonna get _so_ much stuff!”

“Don’t go overboard!” I called as they poofed out, laughing. 

Luke put his notebook down and patted the couch next to him. “Hey.” 

“Hey,” I tapped the notebook nervously. “Got any birthday plans?” 

He shrugged, “I was just thinking about staying in with the guys. Maybe making some music… _quietly,_ of course,” he gave me a soft smile. “We kind of overdid the whole ‘stay out until six in the morning because we can’t sleep’ thing in the first few weeks of being ghosts. It didn’t live up to the hype.”

“I mean, we have a tradition in my family of marathoning a tv series, whilst eating cookies and cream ice cream after opening presents,” I told him. “You can’t eat ice cream, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get the Brooklyn Nine Nine and the presents?” Carefully, I opened the sketchbook and took out the drawing that I’d done to hand to him. “Happy birthday, Luke.”

He traced a finger lightly over the edge. “I wasn’t expecting anything, you didn’t have to…” his voice was almost a whisper.

“Sorry if I overstepped… but I’ve never missed a friend’s birthday and I’m sure as hell not gonna start now.” I replied, trying to seem confident and failing miserably. 

Luke looked at me, a shy smile on his face as he bit his lower lip. “Thank you.” Then his grin turned cocky as he held the drawing up in the air. “I’ll treasure this for the rest of my afterlife.” 

I groaned, scrunching up my nose. “If you make this weird I’ll start to regret this, I know I will.” 

“Nope,” he whispered, clutching the sketch to his chest. “No take-backs.” 

I rolled my eyes, laughing. “Whatever you say, birthday boy.” 

“Quick question, what’s Brooklyn Nine Nine?” 

I grinned as I pulled my laptop out from under the small table and set it on top to queue up Netflix. “One of the best series of all time. Usually we put numbers into a bowl and draw out random episodes, but I think we should start from the beginning since you guys have never seen it.” 

As if on cue, Reggie and Alex poofed back in. Reggie was balancing several boxes in his arms while Alex watched him in amusement. Eventually, he helped him put them down without breaking anything and the two of them joined us on the couch. I explained what we were watching and leaned against the arm, putting my feet up on the cushion that rested on Luke’s lap, which was the closest I had ever gotten to actual contact with any of them. 

I leaned back and smiled, paying more attention to the guys than the laptop as they watched the opening scene of the show. Alex had his arm slung over the back of the couch, and Reggie slowly shifted to snuggle into him as Luke let his head rest on Alex’s shoulder. 

By 2am we were half-way through series one, and even though the day had been exhausting I was determined to keep my eyes open. Julie was curled into my side, having come down after I texted to see if she was still awake. Alex appeared to be asleep, but Reggie explained that they still couldn’t sleep, but that didn’t stop him from trying to regain a semblance of normality. A small pot of ice cream lay finished on the side, thanks to the joint efforts of me and Julie, and my head rested comfortably on top of hers as I watched the show. 

Luke slowly tried to turn his head towards me, and I did the same when I noticed his movement, both of us careful not to wake our half-sleeping family members. “So,” he whispered. “You Molinas are big on your traditions then?” 

“Yeah,” I replied lazily. “Julie’s mom started them. Rose… I’ve never met anyone like her. She was an enigma, my aunt. For someone who thrived in spontaneity, she was also a sucker for traditions. We had so many we almost couldn’t keep track. At one point, she even invested in a calendar specifically to put all of our traditions on. We still do them, every single one she started.” 

“She sounds cool,” he noted. 

“One time, she had this riff stuck in her head, and she played it everywhere she went. I can’t believe I’ve managed to forget how it goes, but she ended up tapping her fingers on the kitchen table during family dinners, running her fingers over the piano keys, humming it at every opportunity… By the time she finally had a chance to pick up a guitar, this little excited sparkle in her eyes, Uncle Ray just sighed and asked ‘how long do you need?’ with this fond look on his face. She replied ‘three days’, and exactly three days later she emerged from the studio, notebook in hand, with a song called “Make Everything Count” or something, because that was just who she was. She never did anything by half,” I laughed quietly. “One hell of a musician.” 

“Seems to run in the family then,” Luke mused.

I laughed, “Yeah, except Julie’s the only one with the songwriting genes.” 

“Not true,” he said firmly. “You know that’s not true.”

“Do I?” I raised an eyebrow. “You’d be easier to believe if there was proof I’d ever written a coherent song.” 

“Maybe you just haven’t found the right inspiration yet,” Luke decided. “You’ve got the talent, you just have to channel it. And you’re not allowed to argue with me on this because it’s my birthday and therefore, I am _right._ ” 

I snorted, barely able to stop myself and instantly checked to make sure Julie was still asleep. “It hasn’t been your birthday for two and a half hours,” I pointed out. “You’re not right because of a technicality.” 

“Then I’m right because I _am_ ,” he refused to listen to any counter points. “I have every bit of faith in you.” 

“I don’t.”

“Well it’s a good job I’m here then,” he smirked. 

I laughed, rolling my eyes at him. But I might have been smiling, just a little bit. 

~

I almost rolled off the couch, and suddenly became acutely aware of my surroundings. Julie was still leaning against me, and a sharp glance at the clock on the wall told me that we _really_ needed to get our shit together if we wanted to get to first period on time. I shook Jules awake, gently bringing her back to reality. I almost felt guilty— it looked like she was having a pretty good dream. 

“Jules? We have about ten minutes to get our asses in gear and leave the house if we have any chance of getting to homeroom before the bell,” I hissed. That had pretty much the same effect as throwing a bucket of water over her. 

We shot out of the studio and thanked our luck that the gate wasn’t in a creaking mood. I gave Julie a leg up to her window and she scrambled in, and I tumbled through my window just as Carlos opened my bedroom door. His eyebrows raised subtly, and his mouth was open like he wanted to ask a question, but he closed it and slowly backed out. Knowing him, he’d definitely want an explanation later for why I was falling in through my window when I should’ve been getting ready for school, but that could wait until later. I kept the same jeans and sneakers on and only changed into a fresh t-shirt, with barely enough time to do anything other than put on a bit of deodorant and pull a black beanie down over my hair. 

As tired as I was, I regretted nothing about last night. 

Although that didn’t mean I was awake enough to look forward to Ky teaching me how to dance after school today. 

~

“Remind me why I agreed to this?” I asked with a sigh as I unlocked the gate and let Ky into the studio.

He smirked, “I think it was your idea.”

I rolled my eyes at him and ushered him inside. “Snacks before or after?” 

“I’m gonna say after, because if I say before then you’ll spend ages doing something to put off us starting,” he pointed out. 

I narrowed my eyes at Ky. “Don’t do that.” 

“Do what?” 

“Know me so well, it’s unsettling,” I scowled. “I told the guys we needed the studio after school so we _should_ have the place to ourselves.” 

“Should?” Ky looked around warily as he put his schoolbag down. “Are they here?” 

I shut the door behind us and looked around, “No, they aren’t.” 

“You guys were awesome the other night,” he added. “But I’m still not 100% forgiving on the whole ‘ditching you and Julie at the dance’ thing.” 

Rolling my eyes, I put my own bag down and connected my phone to the speaker. “It was a shitty thing, and would have been _way_ shitter had you and AJ not been there, but I’m over that now. This band is a good thing, I promise.” 

“Tell that to the blisters on your hands until they heal,” he replied sarcastically, before his brow furrowed at the look on my face and he raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I guess I can let it go.” 

I nodded appreciatively and found the song that the dance was for. _Can’t Pretend_ by Tom Odell. It helped that I knew the song already. I took off my jacket and reluctantly put my hands in Ky’s as he pushed the table out of the way with his foot to give us more space. We managed to get through the first few bars, but when it got to the part for him to put his hands around my waist to lift me, I collapsed to the floor in fits of giggles. 

Ky sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying not to laugh. “Every damn time.” 

“I’m ticklish,” I complained, holding out a hand for him to pull me back to my feet. “Try again?” 

We restarted the song and I copied his moves. Spinning around and putting my hands out so he could lift my arms over my head. This time he managed to lift me, even though I was laughing the entire time. “Do we need to redo—” I tried to ask, but he cut me off with an amused smile. 

“Just keep going,” Ky replied, twirling me around, catching me, and then dipping me. I stiffened, and he laughed. “I’m not gonna drop you.” 

I squirmed in his grip, “This is just… too weird.”

“Weirder than me having to watch you talk to air whenever the guys are here?” He suggested, “From the top, come on.” Ky restarted the song again and winced as I stepped on his foot. “Just make sure that when you’re picking out an outfit for the performance it doesn’t involve heels? Please?” 

I laughed, “You’re joking, right?” 

“The bruises on my feet say otherwise,” he raised an eyebrow. 

“No, not _that._ Sorry about that. I meant you overshot it a little if you think I can dance in heels, when I can barely dance in sneakers,” I pointed out. 

He rolled his eyes and kicked his shoes off. I followed suit. “This should work better.” 

As the music got louder towards the second verse, we tried to do the moves again. I pulled a face, “I know you’d rather be dancing with Nick.” 

“What gave you that impression?” 

“The fact that you’ve said multiple times that you’d rather be dancing with Nick?” 

Ky scrunched his face up, “You’re my second choice?” 

“Gee, thanks,” I laughed, this time managing to let him dip me. “Just promise you’re not imagining his face on me? Because that would be weird.” 

“As long as you’re not imagining that sleeveless bandmate of yours’ face on _me_ ,” he replied. 

I laughed. “What is it with you and AJ fixating on the sleeve thing? She’s made up like a dozen nicknames for him to do with it.” I decided to breeze past the fact that he thought I’d rather be dancing with Luke. 

“I’ll have you know, ‘Beanie McSleeveless’ was my idea, thank you very much. Anyway, who wears those kinds of tops in _October_?” 

“He’s a ghost! He doesn’t get cold!” I protested, and as if he’d heard us talking about him— _which I prayed he hadn’t_ — Luke poofed into the studio. I jumped in surprise, distracted by the fact that I was in the middle of being lifted, which meant that Ky lost his grip on me and we both ended up on top of each other on the ground. 

I groaned, rubbing my shoulder as Ky lifted my legs off from on top of him. “Ow.” 

Slowly, I managed to stand up, still rubbing my side where I’d collided with Ky and then the floor. “Sorry,” I held out a hand to help him up. “I got _distracted_ ,” I glared at Luke. “I thought I told you I needed the rehearsal space today? You literally have the run of Hollywood, Luke, and you came back _here_?” 

Luke laughed, “Carry on, just pretend I’m not here.” He sat down on a stool and picked up his guitar. 

Ky looked around, “Great. Luke’s here.” 

“Good to see you too,” Luke rolled his eyes at him. “And here I was thinking your friend was beginning to _not_ hate me. Guess I was wrong.” 

“Ky doesn’t hate you,” I sighed. 

“It’s more of a… moderate concern,” Ky corrected. 

“See? It’s more of a— _what?_ ” I raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged. 

Sighing, I restarted the music. “It’s fine, we’ll just pretend he’s not here.” 

We were in the middle of one of the moves when Luke spoke up again, “Where’s Alex?” 

“I don’t know,” I groaned, ignoring Ky’s looks of confusion and then realisation as he remembered Luke was in the room. “Unlike _someone_ I know, he actually respects boundaries and _listens_ when I say I need the studio for an afternoon.” 

“I thought music was your thing? Not dancing?” He queried. 

I snorted, “Dancing is _not_ my thing.” 

“You’re getting better?” Ky supplied. 

“I’m really not,” I replied as he dipped me for the third time as we continued the choreo. “You know I’m not.” 

“Please let me lead,” Ky complained, “You’ve been fighting it ever since we started, despite the fact that you have no idea what you’re doing.” 

I crinkled my face up in disagreement. “I like to be in control.” 

“Fine, then how about you lift me then?” He suggested matter-of-factly. 

A small part of me wanted to try that, just to prove a point. A larger part of me decided to spin around accusatively and point at Luke as he tried to smother his laughter. “You’re on thin ice, Patterson. Thin fucking ice.” 

“I didn’t say anything,” he laughed. “Ky didn’t hear anything, did he? See?” 

“Ky can’t hear you at all,” I groaned. 

“I really can’t,” he added. “And it’s really annoying, because I’d like to know what you’re talking about.” 

“So what do you think about taking a lead in Great?” Luke asked, and I stumbled over the steps and muttered an apology to Ky. 

“I’d rather not,” I replied, trying to focus on the dance. 

“But in that rehearsal you were on _fire_! I was talking to Julie about it and she thinks when we perform it, you should do that thing again, where you stood on the piano? It was awesome. We think she should start with the piano, and then you close or something.” 

“Still can’t play guitar,” I pointed out, trying not to notice the pointed glare Ky sent in what he _thought_ was Luke’s direction as he twirled me around. 

“Good job I’m here then,” he winked. 

I rolled my eyes again. “I’m not taking the lead without a guitar.”

“Why not?” Ky pitched in, “You’re hella talented.” 

“He isn’t wrong,” Luke agreed.

I laughed, clinging to Ky as I missed a step. “Well there’s something I never thought I’d see.” 

“What?” They both frowned. 

“You two agreeing on something.” 

~

After a weekend and a bit filled with band rehearsals and dance rehearsals so that I didn’t make a fool of myself on Friday, I was completely exhausted but just scraping by on enough of the steps for it to be okay. Julie hovered in my doorway as I packed the black dress for the dance, her bag already in her hand as she watched me place the black sneakers in the bag. 

“The list says small heel,” I frowned at the email stating the dance’s requirements. “Small heel. If you squint, this could be a heel?”

Julie laughed, “You’ll be fine.” 

“If I’m gonna fail, I better look damn good while doing it,” I pointed out, gesturing to the neatly folded dress in the gym bag, and then the clothes I was currently wearing— black jeans, a white tank top and a black and white checked shirt. 

She rolled her eyes and tapped my wardrobe door shut with her foot. “Come on.” 

I followed her downstairs, but we both paused midway down to hear the musical stylings of what appeared to be Ray _and Reggie_ coming from the kitchen. We shared a look, rounding the corner to find the unlikely duo singing Finally Free. I wasn’t sure what was weirder— the fact that Reggie and Ray were singing together, and Ray had no idea my ghost bandmate was joining him, or the fact that they sounded _good???_

Julie was the first to sling her bag down onto the chair in front of her, as she began talking to them. I subtly waved good morning to Reggie and he waved back. Checking my phone, I groaned. “Fuck—”

 _“Language,”_ both Ray and Julie warned at the same time. 

I swallowed, “Sorry. Just realised I left my math homework in the studio. I’ll see you at school, Jules? Bye Uncle Ray.” I waved as I backed out the door, nodding at Reggie again as I spun around and walked towards the garage. 

Alex and Luke were in the loft, rifling through some of their old things, and I was barely given a heads up before I had to duck out of the way of a flying bag of clothes. The offending bag sailed over my head and split as it hit the ground. One of the items inside caught my eye, and I lifted it up to check it out. It was a white t-shirt with the Sunset Curve logo on, and I smiled as I looked at it. “Hey guys, can I keep this?” 

“Sure,” Luke replied instantly. 

I laughed, “You don’t even know what it is.” But I took off the shirt and pulled the new tee on over my tank top, choosing to tie the old shirt around my waist instead. “But thanks anyway.” 

At that, Alex peered over the railing. “Wow, thought we ran out of those. Word of warning, _don’t_ get it wet. You don’t wanna know what happens when it gets wet.” 

I nodded. “Good to know.” 

Luke spun around quickly, dropping another bag over the railing and hesitating as he realised what I was wearing. “Is that—”

“Thoughts?” I did a little spin. 

“You’re wearing— that’s a _Sunset Curve_ shirt.” 

“This is why you should’ve looked to see what it was before you said yes, because you’re not getting it back now,” I smirked. “I’ll see you guys later.” 

I grabbed the homework I’d come in to collect and shoved it in my bag before walking out and pushing the door open backwards, giving them a mock-salute in goodbye. 

No sooner had I stepped out onto the driveway had Alex poofed out next to me. I didn’t jump, but he did take me a little by surprise. “We should talk,” he announced. 

“Okay?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “What’s up?” 

“If you want something to happen, you’re gonna have to spell it out for him. You know that, right?”

The eyebrow went up further. “What do you mean?” 

“Look, I love Luke, but he’s an oblivious little idiot when it comes to romance,” Alex sighed. 

“Romance?” I blurted, before looking around to make sure no one had heard. Then I realised it must already look pretty weird if anyone _did_ see me, because I was apparently talking to air. I pulled out my phone and plugged my earphones in, letting one hang down and putting the one with the microphone on in my ear. Alex frowned, so I explained. “Microphone. If I keep looking straight ahead, people will think I’m on the phone.” 

“Right. Good idea,” he nodded. “But that’s off topic. What I’m trying to say is, I see the way you look at Luke in rehearsals, and also all the time.” 

It took everything I had to keep staring straight ahead, my hand on the headphone cord instead of whirling around to stare at Alex in disbelief. “I don’t look at Luke,” I replied, before realising that was definitely the _wrong_ thing to say as it was an obvious outright lie.

He smirked. “You’re in deep, and I can tell.” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lied, still inwardly cursing at my previous response. “Besides, you know what Luke’s like. He has that energy that draws you to him when he performs.”

“This isn’t just when he performs though, is it?” Alex shot me a knowing look. “I _know_ the look you give him because I used to give him the same look. You’ve fallen victim to the Patterson charm and he has no idea he’s doing it.” 

I snorted, “The Patterson charm?” And then I processed what he just said, “Wait… You and Luke?” 

“For a little while back in the nineties,” Alex shrugged. “But we decided we were better off as friends. Which is why I can see how hopelessly into him you are.” 

“I’m _not_ into Luke!” I protested, wincing at the volume level I’d manage to rise to. “Please stop talking.” Ky mentioned this the other day during dance rehearsal. I mean, sure Luke was cute, and talented, and when he shares the mic with you, you end up getting butterflies and the whole world melts away and it’s just the two of you and— nope? Just me? Shit. 

Why did everyone have to be more observant than me?

Screw feelings. Everybody hates feelings. Feelings suck. 

I threw my head back and groaned. 

Alex quirked an eyebrow, amused. “I take it that’s the moment of realisation then? I mean, I’m surprised you weren’t already sure, considering you spent a good few hours on that birthday present, despite only having known him for about a month.” 

“I can’t be into Luke,” I sighed. “It doesn’t make sense! He’s a _ghost_! You’re all ghosts!” 

“That isn’t exactly stopping your friend AJ and Reggie,” he replied. 

“Yeah, but AJ… she’s AJ. Reg could be a vampire and she’d still simp for him — Twilight fantasies aside.” 

Alex frowned. “Twilight?” 

“Don’t ask.” I groaned again, “God, I’m screwed. The first time in two years I have a crush on someone, and he just happens to be my dead bandmate. Great.” 

“Could be worse,” he shrugged. 

“How? How could this _possibly_ be worse?” 

Alex opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again, choosing to walk the next few minutes to the school next to me in silence. I still appreciated the company.

~

Alex poofed out when I got to school, and I met AJ by our lockers. She raised an eyebrow, “Oh god. That look. You look like you want to go sing a dramatic piano ballad about how your life has just taken a turn for the screwy.” 

“I wish everyone would stop being so goddamn perceptive,” I groaned. “You know me too well. It’s making things difficult. I need new friends.” 

She laughed. “You hate making new friends.” 

“Dammit, you’re right.” 

“You gonna have fun treading on my brother’s toes later?” AJ grinned. 

I laughed, “I don’t know, are you gonna have fun staring at Reggie’s arms when you watch our rehearsal later?” 

“Touché,” she tipped an invisible hat at me. “Welp, off to bio. See you later.” 

AJ slammed her locker shut with more force than necessary, but that was just her style, and disappeared into the crowded hallway. I rolled my eyes at her natural dramaticness— that she probably didn’t even realise she was doing— and put my schoolbag in my locker, slinging my gym bag with the dance clothes in over my shoulder. I closed the locker and turned around to walk towards the changing rooms, only to be faced with Luke. Luke was at school. Luke was at school in front of my locker. 

What was it with my boys and sneaking up on me today?

 _My boys._ I smiled at the thought. 

“What are you doing here?” I laughed, pulling my phone out again and plugging my headphones in for the same ‘on the phone’ effect. I tried to suppress the fluttering of butterflies in my stomach at the fact that he’d surprised me at school. 

“Hey,” he grinned, leaning against the locker next to me. “Julie’s dad and Flynn have arranged for us to play at your house tonight. Like a garage party kind of thing. I wanted to talk about the setlist?” 

I nodded in approval. “A gig? I’m listening.” 

“I was thinking we should do Great? Which is the perfect opportunity for…” He raised his eyebrows expectantly and I was instantly transported back to the conversation we’d had during my rehearsal with Ky. 

“Absolutely not! Can we at least wait a few days? My fingers are almost completely healed,” I pleaded. 

“You got this,” he reassured me. “Come on. I wish you’d seen yourself when we first played it. Everyone should get to experience some of that Lita Molina _fire!”_

“Aside from this conversation that we’re decidedly _not_ having right now,” I sent a pointed look in his direction. “Great is perfect for tonight.” 

Luke nodded, “Okay. Sweet. But this conversation is not over, but other than that… that’s pretty much what I wanted to talk to you about. So…” He scratched the back of his neck with his hand and half-turned to leave. 

I reached out to stop him, before realising how weird that would look to other people and let my hand fall to my side. “Wait— Luke? I just wanted to say… I think you make me a better writer, so… thanks for helping me and stuff.” 

He blushed, if that was even possible for a ghost, and his face broke into an even bigger grin. “Uh, yeah. Actually I think we make each other better. Like, I know I’m not the easiest person to work with sometimes… but yeah. You know what? Why don’t you just ditch today, we can go rehearse? And I can convince you how _killer_ you would sound leading tonight?” 

I sighed, smiling. “Ray and my mom made us promise that school comes first, or it’s goodbye band. Besides, I don’t think I’ve been fully forgiven for being a ‘bad influence’ on Jules just yet after helping her sneak out the other night.” 

“Well, you’re at school first, and now you’re leaving to go rehearse?” Luke suggested hopefully. God, that was cute. Did he even realise he was rhyming? Probably, he is a songwriter after all. Well, we were both songwriters now. Mostly thanks to him. 

I laughed. “Trust me, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. But I made a promise to Ky and all that rehearsing would’ve been for nothing if I skip out on the final performance.” 

“Come on,” he pleaded. “I can’t do this without you.” 

I bit my lip. It was taking an insane amount of self-control to say no to him right now. What would I rather be doing? Falling flat on my face in dance or rocking out with Luke in Rose’s studio? Yeah, _definitely_ the latter. Literally no competition. I spotted Ky at the end of the corridor, already in his dance clothes. He was wearing a black button-down shirt with dark pants, and a pair of headphones hung around his neck. He waved and I waved back. “I made a promise, okay? But there’ll be plenty of time to rehearse after school.”

“You ready for our big performance? You’re gonna kill it, just like you kill everything you do,” Ky announced matter-of-factly. 

I rolled my eyes, “Your confidence in me is ridiculous at this point. It’s clear who’s gonna be carrying this dance, and who’s gonna be trying to not look like a fool.” 

“He looks pretty sharp,” Luke nodded in approval, giving Ky a once over as I tried not to laugh. 

“You’re gonna nail it,” Ky tapped me lightly on the arm. “Just get out of your head a little.” 

“Yeah I don’t have an off-switch for that,” I sighed.

Luke smiled at that. “If your dancing is as good as your singing, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” 

“You’ve seen my dancing,” I reminded him, and then instantly realised that Ky wouldn’t have heard the part of the conversation that I was responding to. 

He didn’t seem to notice though, replying with an encouraging, “I’ve seen your dancing _improving?”_

It wasn’t very convincing. 

“Look, I’ll see you in there? Get this thing over with?” I laughed weakly, fiddling with the buttons on the sleeves of the shirt wrapped around my waist. 

He nodded, “Relax, Li. You got this. Nice shirt, by the way.” Ky shot me some finger guns before spinning on his heel and walking back down the hall with his hands in his pockets. 

The moment he had gone, Luke leaned against the locker again, smirking as he mimicked Ky’s finger guns. I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re ridiculous.” 

“He’s growing on me, I gotta say,” he shrugged. “Good taste in merch.” 

“I’ll see you later, Patterson,” I laughed. “Try to stay out of trouble for once?” 

“Whatever you say, _Carmelita…_ ” he grinned, and I rolled my eyes again as I walked away. “I know you’re smiling!” Luke called after me. “Kill it on the dance floor!” 

~

I got changed and met Ky in the gym for dance. He nodded encouragingly, “You ready to kill it?” 

“I’m ready to get ice cream after this goes horribly wrong?” I suggested weakly, and he laughed. 

“If that’s as good as I’m gonna get from you, I’ll take it.” 

The music started up, but as I went through the steps, I could help but think of my conversation this morning with Alex, and how Luke had visited at school, and Ky suggesting with a laugh during rehearsal that I’d rather be dancing with Luke than him. One thing led to another, and my thoughts got sidetracked. I followed the steps, but I wasn’t concentrating on them, like I was moving through muscle memory without even focusing, letting Ky guide me as my mind wandered, a light guitar melody weaving its way in with the song we were dancing to. 

I recognised it almost immediately as the song I’d been working on. It didn’t have lyrics, just some chords and a bit of fingerpicking, but it was the one Ky had asked me about after the dance. I was beginning to consider working on it with Luke at some point when… 

_Luke._

Ky spun me and I caught sight of something in the mirror, and the whole world seemed to fall away around me, just like when we performed together. The lights seemed to dim as I stood there frozen, and soon I could only hear my guitar melody, and _Can’t Pretend_ was far from my thoughts. 

Luke walked towards me, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, and with his hair all messy like he’d just taken a beanie off. Just as if I’d already written the lyrics down, he started to sing, and I felt my heart stop. 

_Step into my world_

_Bittersweet love story ‘bout a girl_

_Shook me to the core_

_Voice like an angel_

_I’ve never heard before_

He stopped just in front of me, holding out his hands. Instinctively I reached for them, hoping that in this daydream it would work, and I’d actually be able to make contact. No luck, I passed straight through. He tried again, passing his hands over and through mine, before giving me an encouraging nod and only then did our fingers brush. 

I took a deep breath, knowing that even though this was all in my mind, I wanted to savour every second of it. I clasped his hands, letting myself follow the dance steps that I had been learning with Ky as the words seemed to flow through me. 

_Here in front of me_

_Shining so much brighter than I have ever seen_

_Life can be so mean_

_But when he goes, I know he doesn’t leave_

I leant my weight on him, and he caught me delicately, before pushing me away and then closing the distance again. Ky had told me to get out of my head, but that had seemingly only set it up so that I’d be drawn in further. 

_The truth is finally breaking through_

_Two worlds collide when I’m with you_

_Our voices rising so, so high_

_We come to life when we’re in perfect harmony_

_Whoa whoa_

I raised my arms slowly, and Luke trailed his fingers up them until he reached my hands, interlocking our fingers as I sang quietly, _“We say we’re friends…”_

_“We play pretend,”_ he whispered. 

_You’re more to me_

_We create_

_The perfect harmony_

He spun me back out and I was torn from the fantasy world, stumbling back just in time for me to come to my senses and stop myself from bumping into Ky. I glanced at the mirror, wishing I could relive what I’d just dreamed. 

“See?” Ky nudged me, “Told you you’d nail it.” 

“I gotta go,” I announced suddenly, “See you at the garage party later?” 

“There’s a garage party later?” He called after me, slightly confused. 

I inwardly facepalmed at the fact I’d been so distracted since Luke had told me I’d forgotten to tell him about it. “Yeah, you and AJ are invited, obviously. I found out like two minutes before we started dancing.” 

I pushed open the gym doors and didn’t stop walking until I collapsed onto the piano stool in one of the music practice rooms, coincidentally the one I rehearsed Now or Never in with the guys. I let my head hang down until my forehead pressed a few of the piano keys down, making an unholy sound rise from the instrument. 

Guilty, I sat upright and placed my right hand on the keys instead of my head. Thinking of the guitar in the background, I closed my eyes and played a few of the notes of the chorus. It was funny, really, I never would’ve managed to write an entire song in a daydream if Luke had never entered my life. _We say we’re friends…_

Someone knocked on the door and I stiffened, waiting to see if they would go away. When they knocked again more insistently, and then again to the beat of _Seven Nation Army_ , I realised it was AJ, and she wouldn’t leave until I’d let her in. Sighing, I stood up and unlocked the door, pulling her inside and locking it again behind us. Not like that would keep anyone out. Well, it would deter people, but it wouldn’t deter _ghosts_.

“Told my teacher some lame excuse to get me out of class five minutes early. Ky texted— why’d you run out of dance so fast?” She nudged me along and sat down next to me on the piano stool. 

“A combination of things,” I explained. “One, I realised this morning that I’ve been crushing on Luke for a while. Two, I just had a really intense daydream dance sequence with him where I wrote a wholeass song. Three, I came here to get _out of my head_ and maybe pen a bit of the aforementioned song.”

AJ’s brows lifted slightly, but not enough to indicate that she was surprised. “Yeah, saw that coming. You and Casper the Sleeveless Ghost have been making heart eyes at each other since day one. Look, Li. If you were talking to anyone else they’d say ‘you can’t date a dead guy, he’s like _super_ dead’. But you’re talking to me, so I’m gonna give some questionable advice that my brother will probably directly contradict later if you ask him for a second opinion… but if you want to go for it, _then go for it._ Life’s too short— those boys know that more than anyone. But don’t rush into it too fast—” she paused to raise a finger to silence me before I could interject— “Yeah, I know that’s rich coming from me. But I don’t want my best friend getting her heart broken by a boy that’s gonna be seventeen forever, so ease into it, okay?” 

“I don’t want to ruin what I have with the band…” I sighed. “We’re…” I thought of the lyrics to tonight’s song and smiled. “On the edge of great.” 

“Tonight, focus on the music, _not_ the boy. If you can separate the two, then you’ll be fine. If you can’t, then it’s gonna complicate things a little. Just try not to do any of those disgustingly-adorable mic-sharing things where you stare _deep_ into each other's eyes…” AJ leant in as she whispered, “And look like if the boy weren’t a phantom, you’d have your tongues down each other’s throats before you could even get to the second verse.” 

“Imagery, AJ. I’m trying _not_ to think about Luke, and you plant _that_ in my mind?” 

“There’s a reason I get A’s in english,” she winked, causing me to roll my eyes. “Now, I have a notes app that’s just waiting to be blessed with your lyrical genius. You can copy it down later when you’ve got your book out your locker.” 

I let my head fall on her shoulder, “What would I do without you?” 

“I don’t know, but it definitely wouldn’t be as fun.” 

~

 _You and me together, it’s more than chemistry…_ I hummed to myself with more lyrics for the song that I’d decided to call ‘Perfect Harmony’. On one hand, I was excited that I’d written a song and wanted to share it with Luke. On the other hand, it was very clearly about _him_ , which meant that was a very bad idea for the time being. I hummed the rest of the tune under my breath, desperate for the fingers on my left hand to heal so I could work it out on acoustic guitar. 

So in my own head, I almost didn’t notice Reggie sitting at the desk in my bedroom as I walked in, staring at the open laptop with his brows furrowed. He didn’t seem to notice my arrival. “Reg, you okay there buddy?” I asked, announcing my presence. 

Reggie stood up, stumbled, and knocked the chair over in surprise on his way up. He grabbed it, profusely apologetic as he made a beeline for the exit. I swiftly slid in front of him, my eyes flicking to the computer screen that he’d been looking at. An _‘Am I Gay?’_ quiz was the first thing to catch my attention. Ah, I’m _familiar._ “Sorry, probably should’ve asked before using your computer. Carlos finally put a passcode on his.” 

I decided to breeze past the fact that there _should_ be a passcode on mine. “Hey,” If I could, I would have tried to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Instead, I let my hand rest on the back of my neck while I tried to figure out what to say, a gesture I must have unconsciously picked up from Luke. “You know, if you want to talk to me ever about things… you can.” _No, Lita. Just get to the damn point._ “I’m bi,” I explained. “I like girls and guys. Bisexual. So if you need a fresh perspective and don’t want to talk to the guys about it… I’m always around, okay?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Reggie relaxed a little as he nodded. “Thanks.” I let him past me out the door, even though he could’ve poofed out if he wanted to. Before he left, he spun back around awkwardly. “I do really like AJ, I’m just… figuring it out.” 

“Dude, take all the time you need,” I smiled. “I’ve been there, I get it. No one’s rushing you.” 

“Thanks.” He nodded, poofing out once he was on the other side of the door threshold. 

I slid into the seat he’d vacated and closed the laptop slowly before pulling out my notebook and resting it on top. I didn’t have the heart to tell him just yet that I never thought he was straight in the first place. 

This time, I didn’t use the page scribbled with existing lyrics. I flicked to a new page, blank and ready to be filled with ideas. At the top, I scribbled _Perfect Harmony_ , before setting to work. Julie passed my doorway and I tossed a scrap piece of paper at her to get her attention. She looked up, raising an eyebrow. “You could’ve just said ‘hey’, you know that, right?” She cocked her head to the side, waiting for an explanation. 

I grinned. “Can you help me write a song?” 

~

Julie looked amazing in her outfit for the Edge of Great performance. We’d stopped working on Harmony just early enough to give ourselves time to get ready for the garage party. I shifted nervously behind the garage doors, and Julie reached out and put a calming hand on my shoulder. The guys were in a deep discussion behind us, and we had less than a few minutes before we were due to start. 

“Easy, Li. You can do this.” 

“Easier said than done,” I muttered, trying to shake the tension out of my hands. “I’m regretting agreeing to run point on this one.”

She shook her head, “I saw you in that first rehearsal. This song was _made_ for you. The sooner you realise it, the sooner you can enjoy this.” 

“ALRIGHT EVERYBODY, LISTEN UP!” AJ shouted, drawing everyone’s attention. 

Flynn cleared her throat, “What’s up, everybody? Time to put your hands up, do a little dance, yup, here’s the new anthem from Julita and the Phantoms.” 

Carlos and his friend moved forwards to open the garage doors for us, and it was time for Julie and I to walk out and face the crowd. Julie sat down at the piano first, tugging my sleeve to force me down next to her amidst my hesitation. I smiled, and gave her an unsteady nod to start. 

“Thanks for coming, everyone,” she greeted the crowd, before diving right into it and starting to play. _“Running from the past, tripping on the now, what is lost can be found, it’s obvious…”_

 _“And like a rubber ball,”_ I leant towards her mic, _“We come bouncing back, we all got a second act inside of us.”_

Julie grabbed her mic, pushing away the stand as she spun away from the piano and I turned my mic on, the bluetooth kicking in and connecting to the speaker as the band appeared behind us.

_I believe_

_I believe that we’re just one dream_

_Away from who we’re meant to be_

_That we’re standing on the edge of_

_Something big, something crazy_

_Our best is yet unknown_

Julie moved towards the front while I stayed near Reggie and Alex, carefully avoiding eye contact with Luke. 

_That this moment is ours to own_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great_

_“On the edge of great,”_ the guys backed us up. _“On the edge of great...”_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of…_

_Great_

Luke took the next verse, just like he had during rehearsal. 

_We all make mistakes_

_But they’re just stepping stones_

_To take us where we wanna go_

_It’s never straight, no_

I certainly didn’t miss his head nod as he urged me to come over and share the mic with him. It killed me to pretend I hadn’t seen it, but I was determined to take AJ’s advice and separate him from the music, to make sure it was possible and that if by some stroke of luck we did end up together for a bit, it wouldn’t end up breaking the band apart. 

_“Sometimes we gotta lean,”_ I stayed near Alex, Reggie and Julie, _“Lean on someone else, to get a little help, until we find a way…”_

_I believe,_

_I believe that we’re just one dream_

_Away from who we’re meant to be_

_That we’re standing on the edge of_

_Something big, something crazy_

_Our best days are yet unknown_

_That this moment is ours to own_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great_

I walked around behind the piano as the others took the next part, until I put one foot up and stood on the piano stool, and took another step until I was almost on top of it, swinging my legs around so I could sit with them dangling from the piano as I took the bridge, duetting with Luke even though I wasn’t looking at him. 

_Shout, shout_

_Come on and let it out, out_

_Don’t gotta hide it_

_Let your colours blind their eyes_

_Be who you are no compromise yeah_

_Shout, shout_

_Come on and let it out, out_

_What doesn’t kill you makes you feel alive_

Unfortunately, Luke didn’t stop there in his efforts to get me to pay attention to him, and it was then when I realised I was royally screwed. _“Oh, I believe,”_ as I started, he started towards me slowly, with a guitar riff that noticeably _hadn’t_ made its way into rehearsals today. _“I believe that we’re just one dream…”_ I felt unable to tear my eyes away from him as he edged closer, instead leaning towards him. _“Away from who we’re meant to be…”_ I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear with my free hand as he built up towards the long note, and Luke grinned at me. 

Yeah, I was too far gone at this point.

I stood up, spreading my arms out. _“‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great…”_

_That this moment is ours to own_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great_

_On the edge of great_

_‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of..._

I jumped down as Julie leant on the front of the piano, and I took the seat that she had started in, with the piano part she’d written. I put the mic in the stand and placed my fingers over the keys for the final part. The audience gasped as Luke slid onto the seat next to me while Reggie and Alex poofed out, his face inches from mine as he sang so quietly it was almost as if he was singing just to me. Just like when we shared the mic in Bright, and Finally Free, the rest of the world melted away. _“Running from the past, tripping on the now, what is lost can be found, it’s obvious…”_

Luke poofed out at the end of the song and I felt myself staring at the place he’d been moments earlier. Shaking my head, I looked up to see AJ raising her eye at me, and Julie was smirking as she moved around the piano to wrap me in a hug. “Told you you’d kill it.” 

AJ was wrong, it wasn’t about separating Luke from the music. It couldn’t be, because Luke _was_ the music. _We create a perfect harmony…_


	8. Dancing Through Our House, With The Ghost Of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple of hits right in the feels... and the proof that Lita is always ready to throw hands when it comes to protecting her emotional support himbos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from "Ghost of You" by 5SOS
> 
> also i'm updating this in breaks from fucking biology revision which is a killer but yep i guess that's on me for choosing the literal hardest a-levels on offer lol. if there are typos or grammar errors, well it's half midnight and i've still got two hours worth of revision less so i couldn't really give two shits. i'll probably edit again tomorrow when i have some more active brain cells.

I’d had to take shelter inside one of the music rooms to avoid the groups of people trying to take selfies with me and Julie after the performance at the garage party. Apparently we had fans now? It was an interesting experience. Jury’s still out on whether or not I’m enjoying having people wanting to talk to me. 

AJ leant against the door, peering out every so often to see who was in the corridor. “You know, as the official JATP bodyguard, I feel like we should have planned for this.” 

“Ignoring the ‘fans’, how’s Ky? He seemed… weird earlier,” I changed the subject. 

She shrugged, “He accidentally overheard Nick getting rejected by Julie. Think it short-circuited his brain. He’ll be fine though. Should I text him? Nah, he’ll be fine.” 

“I’ll text him later,” I decided, leaning against the piano. “AJ… remember that chat we had about… _things_ the other day?” 

She shot me a pointed look. “I’m assuming by ‘things’ you mean the fact that you have a crush on a dead guy from a 90’s boyband?” 

“Not a boyband,” I corrected. 

“Think you’re missing the point, Li. But thanks to your brilliant performance of edge of great, it’s pretty damn clear that this crush of yours isn’t going away any time soon?” AJ raised an eyebrow and I shook my head. “Okay, well then what are you gonna do about it?”

I sighed, “It’s so weird. I found out that he was technically the one to introduce me to rock. _Luke!_ Not Trevor Wilson, they were _Luke’s_ songs. I learnt to play guitar with _Luke’s_ songs. Is that not weird to you?” 

“Stop changing the subject and figure out a damn game plan!” AJ walked over and cuffed me lightly on the back of the head. “You need to take some advice from the you that took centre stage the other day and! Make! Decisions!”

“Alright!” I tried to fend her off. “How do I show him that he’s literally managed to change my life? How do I say ‘hey, by the way, I was a nervous wreck and would never sing anything more than backing harmonies until you came along, and I couldn’t talk in front of more than six people, but you helped me with my confidence and also my songwriting and you make me laugh and now I’m a tiny bit in love with you?” 

AJ swallowed her laughter. “Like that, but less wordy.” 

“Thanks.” I rolled my eyes. “But I’m serious!”

“Well, you said he helped you, right? Obviously, not just said— the change is damn obvious to anyone who’s known you longer than five seconds— so why don’t you help him? What’s something he really wants to do?” 

“Play the Orpheum,” I laughed, “But that’s not exactly something you just _arrange_.”

“I’d suggest you write him a song, but you kinda already did…” She raised her eyebrows suggestively and I shook my head. 

“Nope. He’s not seeing that anytime soon. Definitely not.” Then it hit me. What did Luke regret the most from while he was alive?

_Leaving his parents._

“I have an idea, but I think I’m going to need moral support,” I stood up, already thinking of a plan for what I’d do after school finished. 

AJ opened her mouth and then closed it, waiting for a second. “You mean moral support with _tact_ , don’t you? That’s fair.”

~

It just made sense. I remembered seeing Luke’s face as he sat on the kitchen counter and watched his parents blow out candles for his birthday. I remembered hearing about what happened, and how much it hurt him. I remembered snippets of the song in his journal. This… whatever happened between us, I was going to do this for Luke anyway. As a friend. Because friends don’t let friends live their afterlives surrounded by guilt.

I’d roped Julie into it, because she was more of a people person anyway, and because she was the one who could drive who already knew where Luke’s parents lived. I clutched the paper tightly in my hand, the pages I’d delicately torn from Luke’s journal with the song on. This was either going to go really well, or really terribly, but it was going to happen. Luke wouldn’t have written the song if he didn’t want to let his mom know how he felt, and this is how we do that. 

I raised my free hand to knock on the door and froze as Luke materialised next to me. Julie jumped slightly, still not used to the sudden appearances. He seemed taken aback for a second, not expecting us to know what this house was, let alone to come and visit. “What are you doing here?” 

Admittedly, I probably should’ve said something before doing this. Then again, I hadn’t, so we were doing this _now._ “So… you’re probably wondering why we know about this. We… I came here last week, on your birthday.”

“You were spying on me?” He shot Julie a hurt look. “After all of those speeches about ‘boundaries’, you guys were spying on me?” 

“I know how it looks,” I sighed, “But you’re important to me, and I can’t stand by and do nothing when I know you’re in pain.” Something flashed across his eyes briefly, but it was too quick for me to recognise the emotion. “I know you want to talk to her and can’t, and I wanted to help.” 

Luke looked away, deliberately avoiding my eyes as he looked out across the street and away from the house. “I don’t even know what I’d say to her, even if she could hear me,” he said quietly. 

Julie’s eyes landed on the paper in my hand. “Yes, you do. You’ve already said it.” 

Instead of saying anything else, he nodded slightly, and slowly pressed his hand over the doorbell. The sound of footsteps could be heard almost instantly from the other side and he took a step back warily. I sucked in a breath and looked to Julie for advice. She didn’t speak yet, instead giving me a short nod and brushing her hand against mine as the door opened. 

“Hello?” Luke’s dad opened the door, “Can I help you?” 

Julie was the first to reply. “Hi. I’m Julie, and this is my cousin Lita.”

“We believe you had a son named Luke?” I asked, all the while consciously rubbing my thumb in circles on the back of the paper. 

Luke’s dad smiled softly, “Yes, that’s right. And you are again?” 

“Julie and Lita Molina. Your son’s band used to play in our family’s garage?” She explained. 

I uncurled my fingers and lifted up the folded piece of paper. “I… I came across this song that he wrote, and figured you might be interested?” 

“Yes… Please, please come in. I’m Mitch,” he introduced himself, opening the door wider to allow us inside. Julie stepped in first, and I looked back to see Luke’s eyes flicking between the song in my hand and his dad. I gave a subtle nod of my head in the direction of the house before he stepped through the door and I could close it behind us. 

“Nice to meet you,” Julie smiled at Mitch. 

“Can I offer you something to drink?” He asked, leading us into the living room. I shook my head, and Julie politely declined for both of us. I scanned the room, taking in all the photos of Luke as a little kid. Mitch noticed me looking and smiled, “That’s Luke when he was two.” 

“Do you have any other children?” She asked. 

He shook his head, as Emily came in. “No.” 

She smiled at her husband, “Did I hear the doorbell?” 

Mitch introduced us. “Hi hon, this is Julie and Lita.”

“Hello girls,” she greeted us warmly.

“They live in the house where Luke and the band rehearsed,” Mitch explained. “Lita was just telling me she found a song that Luke wrote.” 

I had to stop my voice from cracking as I unfolded the paper and it towards her. “It’s a song about a girl named Emily?” 

Emily reached out and brushed the old pages with her finger. “I… I’m Emily.” 

“Then I think your son may have written this song for you,” Julie finished. 

Mitch put his arm around his wife as they read the lyrics together, and even though I should’ve seen it coming, nothing could’ve prepared me for hearing Luke start to sing the words on the page in front of his parents. 

_First things first,_

_We start the scene in reverse_

_All of the lines rehearsed_

_Disappeared from my mind_

_When things got loud_

_One of us running out_

_I should have turned around_

_But I had too much pride_

_No time for goodbyes_

_Didn’t get to apologise_

_Pieces of a clock that lies broken_

I could almost imagine Luke writing this in the studio one night after he’d run away, and the tear stains on the paper were a good enough indicator to know that the wound was still fresh. 

_If I could take us back_

_If I could just do that_

_And write in every empty space_

_The words I love you in replace_

_Then maybe time would not erase me_

_If you could only know_

_I’d never let you go_

_And the words I most regret are the ones I never meant to leave_

_Unsaid, Emily_

Tugging my sleeve over my hand, I wiped a tear from my eye and pretended to let my gaze wander out the window, even though in reality it was lingering on where Luke was standing. 

_Silent days, mysteries and mistakes_

_Who’d be the first to break?_

_Guess we’re alike that way_

_He said, she said_

_Conversations in my head_

_And that’s just where they’re gonna stay forever_

_If I could take us back_

_If I could just do that_

_And write in every empty space_

_The words I love you in replace_

_Then maybe time would not erase me_

_If you could only know_

_I’d never let you go_

_And the words I most regret are the ones I never meant to leave_

_Unsaid, Emily_

_If I could take us back_

_If I could just do that_

_And write in every empty space_

_The words I love you in replace_

_Then maybe time would not erase me_

_If you could only know_

_I’d never let you go_

_And the words I most regret are the ones I never meant to leave_

_Unsaid, Emily_

Tears streamed down his face by the time he finished, and both Julie and I were struggling to hold it together after having heard the whole thing. The song itself was even more beautiful than it had seemed on paper, but no one could have sung it like Luke did just now. 

Emily shook with quiet sobs as she leant against Mitch, and I unconsciously reached for Julie’s hand only to find it already on its way to mine. 

“Thank you,” Emily whispered through her sobs.

“You… you have no idea…” Mitch trailed off. 

Julie offered a comforting smile through her own tears. “We write music in the same room that he did, and I can tell you that it is a magical, happy place.”

Mitch and Emily laughed quietly, “That means so much to know.” 

“Luke was only seventeen when he died… but he lived doing the one thing he was born to do. Not many people get to say they did that. His music has been around Jules and I our whole lives, and we had no idea until recently. Even though he might not know it, Luke has managed to make an impact on us,” I smiled softly. 

Behind me, I heard the signature sound of a ghost poofing out. 

“It was so nice to meet you,” Emily added.

“It was nice to meet you too.”

We said goodbye and closed the door behind us, but Luke had disappeared. I hesitated outside the Patterson’s front door and closed my eyes, letting the remaining tears fall as I steadied my breathing. It was less than two seconds before Julie’s body collided with mine and she wrapped her arms around me tightly. I squeezed back, neither of us wanting to move. 

So we stayed there a little longer.

~

When we arrived back at the house, Luke was leaning against the side of the house near the front door, turning his lucky blue rabbit’s foot over in his hand. Julie was still parking the car which meant that from the moment he saw me, it was just us. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

I walked over and leant against the porch railing next to him. “I overstepped, didn’t I? Sorry.”

“No, I… I just had to leave. That was…” he trailed off. 

“You don’t have to say anything…”

“Yeah, I do,” he took a step closer. “I didn’t have many regrets in my life except for running out on my parents, especially my mom, so _thank you._ ” 

I took a deep breath, “I’m about to say something long and complicated, and I might end up speaking so fast you don’t hear a word but at least I’ll still have said it. You and the guys are probably the best things to ever happen to me and Jules. “It’s just, you guys are the best thing to ever happen to me and Jules. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I don’t know how much longer she’d have gone without music. You brought her back to life, and I can’t thank you enough for that. But you also really helped me, you helped me with my confidence, you helped me write, and you’re just _there_ when I need you. I felt like I needed to do something to pay you back because I don’t know what I’d be doing if I didn’t have this band in my life.” 

Luke ducked his head, “Lita, I…”

“Not finished,” I replied. “Just needed more oxygen.” I took another breath. “A few years ago, we had to write an essay about what music means to us. Well, back then I saw it as safety, as release, as warmth. Music has, and always will be, my lifeline. And it's that now too, but it’s so much more. When I think of music, I think of Regie’s country suggestions, I think of Alex tapping out drum beats without even realising it while we sit in the studio on a Saturday night. I think of Julie’s killer high notes. And you. When I think of music, the first thing that comes to mind is _you_ , Luke. You’ve always been there, even when you weren’t. 

“This probably won’t make sense— maybe it will, maybe not— but that doesn’t matter. I mean, you’re definitely better with words anyway. Look, your songs were the ones I grew up on, and you didn’t even know. Your music is what I first wanted to play. Your song was my ringtone for _four years_. You have _always_ been there for me, even when I hadn’t even met you yet. The point is, when I think of music I think of you… because, to me, _you_ are music. You’re warm, you’re safe, you keep me sane, you’re passionate, you make me laugh… you’re this amazing person who I click with in every way and I don’t want to mess that up but I also just want to take that leap of faith and say, “What the hell? Let’s do this,” because you make me _brave_.”

He finally spoke. “You don’t need me to be brave, Lita.” Luke edged his hand closer to mine on the railing and I met him halfway. I knew what would happen but that didn’t mean it hurt any less when our hands passed through each others. He frowned, “There’s… there’s something I have to tell you.”

I looked up, “Yeah?” 

“We figured out that we have unfinished business… that’s why we came back as ghosts,” he started to explain. “We have to play the show that we never got to play.” 

“The Orpheum? Yeah, that tracks,” I nodded. “We’ll—”

Before I could continue, a blast of purple light cut through Luke’s chest and he was all but _thrown_ backwards into the post behind us as he cried out in pain. My eyes widened in horror and Julie emerged from around the corner— for someone who was so keen on boundaries, she sure had a natural talent for eavesdropping— as soon as she heard, panic visible on her face. 

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Luke grimaced.

“What’s going on?” Julie skidded to a halt next to me, her brow furrowed. 

“We did something that we shouldn’t have. The night that we missed the dance, we met this ghost and he put this curse on us. If we don’t do what he says, then those jolts will destroy us.” 

Julie and I had polar opposite reactions. She went with, “Then you gotta do what he says. What does he want?” While my mind instantly went to, _time to throw hands with some sons of bitches._

Luke winced again from the residual shock as he spoke, “He wants us to be in his house band for eternity. But if we can play the Orpheum soon then we can avoid all that and actually cross over.” 

“Cross over?” Julie faltered, “As in, like what? Like go to heaven?” 

“That’s what we’re banking on, yeah,” he replied. 

I had to pause my freakout for a second because _really, Patterson?_ ‘That’s what we’re banking on’? Does this kid _seriously_ think there’s a chance he’s going to _hell?_

“So it’s either you cross over, be in his band for eternity, or be destroyed by those jolts?” She asked incredulously. 

Somehow, I had been rendered speechless since the news had first been delivered. I stood there, shaking with quiet anger as I tried to formulate a plan. 

“That’s just… great.” Julie sighed, disappearing inside the house without looking back and slamming the door behind her as she did. 

Luke turned to me, “Lita? Are you—”

“We’re going to go into the studio right fucking now and you’re going to tell me everything you know about this asshole who cursed you so I can beat them into their own personal circle of hell,” I growled, my hands curled into fists. Before Luke had time to object, I’d already stormed into the garage and started pacing. “Start from the beginning.” 

~

I paced back and forth as the guys lay there in defeat, desperate for another option. In the past hour, I seemed to have been going through the five stages of grief on a cycle, except every time I seemed to manage to skip the acceptance one and leave that for Alex, Luke and Reggie, who had apparently given up. Once, another harsh jolt racked their bodies, leaving them breathless even though they didn’t really need to breathe. It was painful to watch. Reggie was slumped against one of the chairs, hugging his bass and plucking the strings solemnly while Alex kept trying to balance a drumstick on his forehead and Luke continued to stare into space, every so often letting me cross his vision as I paced.

My inner monologue ranged from _‘this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening’_ to the one thought that I found myself vocalising more and more often. “I’ll kill him.”

“He’s already dead,” Alex pointed out for the third or so time. 

“He’ll wish he is when I’m done with him,” I snapped, already rolling up my sleeves. “If no one is going to do anything but lie here and at least take me to the goddamn club so I can show him that _no_ _one_ messes with my family.” 

The word ‘family’ seemed to snap Luke out of his daze. “It’s useless,” he muttered. “We’ll never book the Orpheum and we’ll never cross over and Caleb— Caleb _wins._ ” 

“No,” I shook my head. “I won’t accept that. There has to be a way to get rid of him, there _has_ to be.” 

“What have you got that Caleb doesn’t?” Alex sighed. 

“Exorcism?” Reggie offered. AJ had clearly been rubbing off on him. 

“Exorcism,” I agreed, listing off the things. “A large amount of anger in a small body, Jules and I can make you guys visible and… and…” I folded my arms, _“The power of motherfucking friendship.”_

“Lita, just leave it!” Luke protested, “There’s no point. Please, just stop.” 

“This fucking sucks!” I practically exploded, hurtling my sketchbook— my literal _prized possession_ — across the room until it struck the piano and fell flat on the floor, loose pages littering the area surrounding it. “If I have to march into that club and send that undead son of a bitch to hell myself I’ll do it because I am _not_ sitting idly by and watching more of the people that I care about _die._ If you won’t help me get there, then I’ll just have to find it myself.”

The boys were almost stunned into silence as I made my way towards the door. The only indication that they’d actually taken in any of what I had just said was made by Luke as he poofed in front of me to block the door. I could’ve walked right through him, but something stopped me. I knew what would happen if I did, and I didn’t want to feel what Luke was feeling right now. I didn’t want to believe he’d really given up. “Don’t,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “It’s too dangerous. You walk in there, you don’t walk out. One way or another, Caleb will own your soul for eternity, and we’ll still flicker out. It’s a lose-lose situation.” 

“Give me another option,” I pleaded, tears streaming down my face. “Give me another option and I swear to god, I will do whatever it takes.” 

“Alright,” the door swung open and Julie stood in front of it, arms folded like she meant business. “Snap out of it.” 

Her arrival shocked Alex so much he fell from where he was balanced against the sofa and the action sent one of his drumsticks flying across the studio, where it rolled to a stop neatly next to my overturned notebook. Reggie blinked. “Jeez, I think you broke Alex.”

Julie took charge and gathered our attention. “Do you want to cross over or not? If we can’t fight the guy who owns your souls or whatever— and I know Lita’s willing to try— then we’re gonna get you guys as far away from him as possible and off to whatever comes after. Get it together!” She punctuated the last three words with a clap and I had to admire her resolve.

“They’re never gonna let us play the Orpheum,” Luke pointed out, slumping back down until he was leaning against the sofa again. 

He wasn’t wrong. 

“We’re nobody,” Alex agreed.

“Less than nobody,” Reggie sighed. “We have no bodies!”

Julie sighed, “Someone once told me that you don’t ask for permission. You book gigs by doing!”

Luke let out a soft chuckle. Yeah, that seemed like something he’d say. 

Reggie nodded, “It was me.” 

“No it wasn’t,” Julie and Luke corrected simultaneously. 

“Yes it was,” Reggie muttered quietly, sulking. 

“This isn’t over,” Julie decided. “We were brought together for a reason: to help each other.” 

“Yeah, but it’s like Luke said…” Alex sighed. “People don’t just play the Orpheum because they want to.” 

“People don’t,” Julie conceded, but the sly smile never left her face. “But ghosts do.” 

I followed her train of thought and nodded as she folded her arms. I walked over and leant against her shoulder. If we can’t free the guys from Caleb, then at least they get to go out on their own terms. We were going to help them cross over, or we were going to die trying. _Relax, it’s a metaphor._

“Jules is right,” I agreed, drying my eyes with my sleeve and steeling myself into action. “But you guys aren’t. We’re not ‘nobody’, we’re _Julita and the frickin’ Phantoms._ And if we decide we want to play the Orpheum, we’re gonna play the goddamn Orpheum. Now… are you in, or what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> completely unrelated to the story, but if i got to choose between a tainted street dog and my a-level bio course right now then i'd probably pick the goddamn street dog. you didn't need that information, but now you have it


	9. As Long As My Lungs Still Hold Air, I Will Hold You Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~whatever happens even if i'm the last standing, i'ma stand tall~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this is not a REQUIREMENT so to speak, more of a /suggestion/ that you listen to Shelter by The Satellite Station during the last scene. Like as soon as Lita mentions the song get that shit playing because of the VIBES and the SCENE and yeah ok i'm a little proud of this one.
> 
> you've also got some of my shitty home-cooked lyrics thrown in there! what a treat! (no pun intended) they're probably really bad but oh well

I hovered with Julie in the studio, vibrating with nervous energy. We’d created a plan, even though the guys’ jolts had been getting even worse. So far, Jules and I had to wait while Alex’s sort-of-boyfriend Willie helped get the current opening act out of the way— not in a sinister way, of course, just a ‘drive their bus into the middle of the desert’ kind of way— so that us and our phantoms were an easy replacement. 

“You think this is going to work?” Julie asked nervously, wringing her hands as she paced around me. 

I shook my hands to release some of the energy building up inside of me. “You have any idea what we’ll do if it doesn’t?” 

Before we had a chance to ruminate anymore, the guys poofed back in and we showered them in questions. 

“What took you guys so long?”

“Did Willie do it?” 

“Did you talk to them?”

“Did they watch the video?” 

“Did they like us?” 

“Are we playing tonight?” 

We both ran out of breath, and the three boys exchanged cautious glances. Reggie was the first to speak. “Woah, that’s a lot of questions…” but his answer wasn’t exactly the most helpful. “Luke, you wanna take this one?” 

“Take a seat,” Luke advised calmly, gesturing to the couch. I collapsed onto it gratefully and Julie followed suit. “It’s fine, everything’s fine.” 

Alex nodded. “Yeah, you should be getting a call right… now!” 

All eyes turned to the phone, which remained notably blank. We waited expectantly as he tried again. 

“Right… now!”

It took a minute, but the screen of Julie’s phone flashed on and the familiar ringtone started to play. “Answer it!” I practically threw the phone at my cousin and she caught it, answering the call and putting it on speaker. 

“Hello?” She asked nervously when the call connected.

“Hi, this is Tasha from the Orpheum in Hollywood.” I all but shot off the couch, unable to sit still and wait. It turned out I wasn’t the only one, because (albeit a little prematurely) we were all already celebrating. “Is this Julita and the Phantoms?” Tasha asked, and we all froze so that Julie could answer. She took it off speaker and held it up to her ear. 

“Yes, it is. You’re speaking with Julie.” 

“Hi, are you available to open for us tonight?” 

I screamed. Full effect high pitched screaming that could’ve shattered glass if I tried hard enough. I grabbed the phone from Julie and answered all in one breath. “HI THIS IS LITA AND WE’D LOVE TO PLAY TONIGHT!” 

“Thank you so much!” Julie shouted down the phone as I passed it back over to her. 

In celebration, Alex ran at Luke and Reggie and they caught him flawlessly, holding him up in the air above their heads as he grinned and cheered. It was pretty impressively done, and I almost wondered how many times it _hadn’t_ gone as smoothly. “I’m swimming!” Alex whooped, waving his arms in the air. 

“We’re playing the Orpheum, baby!” Julie shouted. 

I pulled out my phone and facetimed AJ. “AJ! AJ! AJ!” I shouted until she paid attention to me. “AJGRABKYIHAVENEWS!”

She raised an eyebrow and complied, disappearing into the next room to drag Ky in by his chair. He seemed more surprised than anything else, but he waved as soon as he saw me on camera. “What’s up?” He grinned. 

“I’m gonna need a bodyguard and an expert cameraman tonight,” I built up slowly, raising the suspense. “BECAUSE JULITA AND THE PHANTOMS ARE PLAYING AT THE FUCKING ORPHEUM!”

The screen on the other end went black, but the sound stayed on and I winced at the volume level they’d manage to reach in their screaming. I took that to be a good sign. 

The guys put Alex back down on the ground and I took a deep breath, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand. I locked eyes with Julie and she pulled me into a hug, both of us jumping up and down. 

Somehow, _Legend_ by the Score ended up playing, and we all ended up jumping up and down and chanting along to the chorus. 

_Won’t stop til we’re legends._

~

After a bit of planning, and a chat with Ray and my mom— she joined via video chat, still terrified that a ghost was in the house despite Carlos’ attempts to convince her that he’d managed to get rid of it— about the performance, I’d helped Julie pick out her clothes and I was digging through my closet to find something. It had taken a while to choose Jules’ outfit, but we’d finally decided on a dress that Rose had designed for one of Julie’s music recitals, that she never ended up wearing. We’d paired it with one of Rose’s old jackets, and had the necessary bits and pieces to braid coloured ribbons into Julie’s hair. 

_Called You Twice_ by FIDLAR played in the background as I rifled through my closet, mentally checking off every outfit I’d ever worn. It took an incredibly long time, with input from both Julie and AJ, but we managed to put an outfit together. It involved a short dress that faded from a dark blue to a glittery black that had been in there for _god_ knows how long, yet still somehow fitted, a pair of high top black and white sneakers, and a sleeveless leather jacket supplied by AJ when she showed up unannounced on the doorstep five minutes after the facetime call ended. 

AJ of course, looked as brilliant as ever, with a ribbed white top under a collarless black leather biker jacket accompanied by a pair of distressed jeans and mirrored sunglasses. She had come prepared with a little dry erase board so she could chat to Reggie as both of them lay flat on the floor of Julie’s bedroom almost shoulder to shoulder.

I was humming Finally Free and finishing curling my hair for tonight when I heard a soft knock on my door. “It’s open,” I called, turning around. Luke had already poofed in, and he slid the notebook across the desk towards me. 

“You left it in the studio last night. I… uh... I packed up the papers and put them inside. Forgot to give it back this morning.”

“Oh.” A brief flashback of last night— hurling it at the piano and watching the various pieces of paper stuffed inside scatter everywhere as it made impact. It had been decidedly hectic so it wasn’t that much of a shock that I’d managed to forget about it. For a second, I was reminded that Perfect Harmony was in there, and that he could’ve seen it, but it wasn’t exactly like either of us could say anything now, with him crossing over tonight and me still, well, _alive._ “Thanks.” He turned to leave but I felt a sudden urge to stop him. “Hey, Luke?” 

“Yeah?”

“It’s going to be weird without you guys here. Guess I managed to get a little attached to you,” I let out a weak laugh. 

He smiled a little and opened his mouth to say something, but a purple flash and another jolt caught him off guard and he winced, pitching sideways and almost falling through the bookcase. I put the curling iron down and rushed over as he sank to the ground and rested his back against the wall, the flicker having left him exhausted. “I was going to say, we got a little attached to you too.”

~

By the time we were ready to leave, the atmosphere had simmered down from high excitement to something a little more awkward. Both Jules and I were distracted by nerves, but that wasn’t the only thing. With every passing minute, the performance drew closer. With every passing minute, the _goodbye_ drew closer. If they cross over after we perform, then that’s it. That’s _it._

They’ll be gone.

When we regrouped at the studio before it was time to go, I noticed a few subtle changes. For one thing, the guys seemed like they’d just been hit by another round of jolts, and it seemed pretty bad. Reggie looked like he’d been crying, and his signature flannel was notably absent from his outfit, instead finding itself on AJ instead under her leather jacket. 

Julie was the first to say something. “You guys ready to go?” 

They shifted uneasily, wincing slightly. “Yeah. We just got rocked pretty hard by one of those jolt things.

“Pretty sure I ghost peed a little,” Reggie admitted quietly. 

“But we’re fine,” Luke reassured us. 

“Actually, guys, I’m a little nervous,” Julie confessed.

“A little?” I asked incredulously. “A _little?_ I’m fucking terrified! We’re playing the _Orpheum_ and I’m literally shaking!” 

Julie shook her head fondly, “You know you’ve got this, Li.” 

“So do you,” I nudged her. 

She smiled, glancing at Luke. “Hey Luke, can I talk to you for a second?” 

He nodded and followed her to the other side of the room as I made my way over to Alex and Reggie. “Say the word and I’ll ditch this event to go bring that Covington bitch back to life only so I can murder him?” 

Reggie smiled softly, his eyes briefly flicking to where AJ was on the phone to Ky a few feet away. “She said the same thing ten minutes ago.” 

“And it’s still not something we’re okay with either of you doing,” Alex reminded me. “It’s okay. We’ll play the show, cross over, and then we’re all safe from Caleb.”

“We had a good run,” I sighed. “Making music with you guys is something I’ll never forget.” 

“Neither,” Reggie nodded.

I bit my lip, “Look, I don’t know how much time we’ll have after the show before you guys go, so I just wanna say… you guys have become like my family, and if any ghosts were to have shown up and formed a band with me and Jules… I’m glad it was you.”

“For a lifer, you’re not too bad yourself,” Reggie joked, tapping me lightly with the end of the whiteboard pen he was holding. “A lifer is someone who’s alive, by the way.” 

“I think she gets that with context, Reg,” Alex pointed out, before turning his full attention to me. “You and Julie are going to do great things. You’re both incredibly talented and working with you has changed our afterlives for the better. Whatever happens, we’ll be keeping an eye on you from… wherever we end up.” 

I groaned, snatching the pen from Reggie and poking Alex insistently until he gave in. “You.” Poke. “Are.” Poke. “NOT.” Poke. “Going to hell!” Poke. “What is it with you guys and thinking you’re going to hell?!”

“Guys, band circle!” Luke called us over, his chat with Julie finished. AJ waved and pointed at the phone, mouthing ‘ride’s here’ and making her way out before disappearing. I put the pen down and shot Alex a look, and he raised his hands in surrender and tugged Reggie along for the band circle. The guys put their hands in each other's and Julie and I did the same, hovering our free hands just above theirs. “Okay,” in classic Luke style, I had a feeling there was a speech coming. “We don’t know what brought us here, but… what we do know is, you Molina girls are _stars_. And just because this is our last night together, doesn’t mean we won’t be watching you from above… or…” he nodded his head in the direction of the ground and Julie let out an amused chuckle. 

I raised an eyebrow, “I swear to god, Lucas Patterson, if you insinuate that you are going to hell _one more time_ —” 

“One problem at a time, Li. One problem at a time,” he teased. “Now, let’s rock this show. Let’s give ‘em a night they’ll be talking about ‘til the sun comes up. Okay? Legends on three.” Luke put his hand in the centre and Reggie and Alex put theirs on top. I rolled my eyes and put mine over Julie’s which was hovering just above theirs. 

“One,” Reggie grinned. 

“Two,” Alex announced. 

Julie looked at me and we nodded at each other, both saying together “Three.” 

_“Legends!”_ We all chorused, throwing our hands in the air. 

A car horn beeped from outside and I shouldered my guitar case with a sigh. “That’d be Ray.” 

“He’s driving us,” Julie explained. “We’ll see you guys soon?” 

They nodded, and she grabbed the carrier containing her dress and walked towards the car. I let out a sigh and turned around, mentally capturing and storing the image of the guys standing in the studio one last time before smiling at them and walking towards the car. 

“We’re gonna kill it!” Luke called out from behind as I rounded the corner. 

I shook my head fondly, smiling as I slid into the back seat next to Julie. 

_We always do._

~

The first thing I noticed when we arrived at the Orpheum was the sign out the front that said _PANIC AT THE DISCO_ and underneath _JULITA AND THE PHANTOMS._ I took a photo only to find that AJ had sent me the exact same photo moments before, and we arrived to find her in a heated discussion with one of the stagehands as she explained that yes, she was with the band and _yes, seventeen-year-old girls can be decent bodyguards._

I caught her before the debate could go any further and slung an arm around her shoulders, “Hey! Well if it isn’t my favourite bodyguard.” 

“I’m your only bodyguard,” she grinned. 

“But if you _did_ have competition you’d still come first,” I pointed out as she showed me to the dressing room. “Where’s Ky?” 

“Working with Flynn and Rob on the tech team on something special for the performance. After I left yours he didn’t stop talking about what he’d been planning with Flynn. You’re gonna love it, by the way.” 

Julie slipped into the dressing room before we closed the door and sent me a thumbs up before going into the changing area to put her dress on and start doing her hair. I took a look around and whistled. 

“This. This is fucking awesome,” I announced. 

“Now that you’re here and I’ve established my authority with everyone who works here, I have _way_ more freedom to go and explore. I’ll see you in a bit?” AJ asked. I nodded and she shot me a pair of finger guns before closing the door behind her. 

I glanced at the bag containing my clothes for a moment or two before following Julie’s lead and getting changed. It wasn’t long before I was standing in front of the makeup desk mirror next to Julie, staring at my reflection. The guys hadn’t arrived yet, but they could just be taking a look around and breathing in (maybe not breathing, because they’re dead, but you get the idea) the atmosphere to see how it had changed since they almost performed here. 

The atmosphere was definitely the best part. I was nervous out of my mind and had barely stopped moving in at least one way since the weight of what we were about to do had set in. Either my foot had been tapping or my hand had been playing the piano intro to Stand Tall on any available surfaces, or I’d been walking up and down and scrolling through the comments on Twitter talking about tonight. Ever since Flynn had set us up a social media presence, the followers had been coming in at a steady rate. That is, until we booked the Orpheum gig and Panic! At The Disco announced we’d be opening for them. The followers appeared by the hundreds after that. Every time someone else arrived in the queue outside, and posted another picture of our band name in lights… I liked the post instantly from the official account and watched them fan over it. Ten minutes ago, I’d changed the header on my personal Twitter account to the same photo of the outside of the Orpheum, and having left my sketchbook at home I opened a drawing app on my phone and began to make little brushes until the sketch took the form of Julie in all her Orpheum get-up glory. 

Someone knocked on the door and announced the arrival of our roadies, which could only mean that Ky, AJ and Flynn were here. 

“Holograms are good to go, boss!” Flynn waltzed in cheerfully, AJ and Ky behind. 

Ky looked around the room, impressed. “Damn. This is some dressing room. They really don’t make them like this anymore…” 

AJ rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow, “You say that like you’ve ever been in one.” 

“Shut up,” he nudged her back. “So Lita, you excited?” 

“Terrified,” I replied confidently. 

Flynn laughed, “Yeah, that seems to be the consensus over here too. Have you seen this backstage pass?” She held it up in my face in excitement and I laughed. “I had sushi with BRENDAN URIE.” 

In a slightly calmer but a lot more smug way, AJ added: “And I exchanged phone numbers with Brendan Urie.” 

That caught my attention. “WHAT?!”

“Well, I ‘borrowed’ his phone for a minute when he wasn’t looking and put my number in under the name ‘call if you need a favour’, so now he’ll be intrigued and call. You can’t tell me that’s not the best idea I’ve ever had.” 

Ky sighed. “It’s certainly up there.”

“We made friends with the tech crew!” Flynn announced. “You’re gonna love what we have planned. Are the guys here?”

“No,” AJ replied before either me or Julie had the chance. 

Ky frowned. “How would— how would _you_ know?” 

She shrugged. “If Reg was here, I would know.” 

“Anyway,” I sighed. “We’ve not seen them.”

Ky hesitated, “You don’t think they changed their minds and took Caleb’s offer, do you?” 

“No. They wouldn’t,” I replied adamantly. 

“That’s the last thing that they wanted,” Julie agreed.

Flynn walked over to her and put a hand on her arm reassuringly. “You’re gonna kill it.” She glanced back at me. “ _Both_ of you.” 

“Snacks?” Ky suggested.

Flynn sighed, “Boy, I love where your head is at right now.” 

~

“Julie? Lita? It’s time,” Rob from the tech crew knocked on the door and I froze in the middle of pacing. 

“Just a second!” Julie called back.

The guys were nowhere to be seen.

“Something’s wrong,” Julie voiced exactly what I’d been thinking. “The boys were getting those jolts pretty bad as we were leaving.” 

I thought back to Luke leaning against the wall after almost falling through the bookcase. “What if they—” I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t bring myself to. _What if they’re already gone?_ “They wouldn’t stand us up again, they _wouldn’t.”_

“They must have run out of time,” AJ whispered, confirming what everyone else had been too afraid to say. “Shit.” 

That couldn’t be true. We did this for _them._ We’re here because of _them._ It’s Julita and the Phantoms— we couldn’t do this without our phantoms. 

“They didn’t cross over… they’re gone,” a tear slowly made its way down Julie’s cheek. “And I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” 

Flynn wrapped her in a hug, but the moment Rob came back to tell us it was time to get on stage, she pulled away and disappeared out of the door. Too stricken to follow her, I let Flynn run after my cousin as I stood there, hands fisted in the fabric of my dress as I tried to stop the tears from falling. 

We failed. 

We failed them. 

“We let them down,” I whispered after a few minutes. “We couldn’t play the Orpheum in time, and now they’re gone.” 

“Hey,” Ky put a hand on my shoulder. “Not your fault. It’s that Covington bastard’s fault. He’s the one that cursed them, he’s the reason they’re gone.” 

“But why couldn’t I be the reason they stayed?” It was probably selfish, but I wanted more time. I needed more time with them. We had everything to lose and it was all taken by one self-righteous dead magician with ego issues. “We couldn’t save them… we failed.” 

“You might not have succeeded, but you sure as hell didn’t fail,” AJ snapped. “You built a band from the ground up, you wrote several songs that are going to be playing in people’s minds for as long as they’re alive and they helped you and Julie use music to its full extent. She hadn’t sung in a year until they arrived, and you hid behind your guitar whenever a performance came around. You have grown because of them.” She walked towards me, and pointed a finger at my chest. “But also because of you. So, Carmelita Molina, if I hear you say that you ‘failed’ one more fucking time, I’m dragging you onto that stage myself. The only way you’re failing them now is by not going out there and doing what you were _born_ to do.”

I stood and stared at my best friend. 

Yeah, that just happened. 

AJ flipped her hair over her shoulder and folded her arms, “Now go out there and make that crowd spend the rest of their lives wishing they could relive this experience.”

Ky’s eyebrows remained invisible behind his hair as his jaw hung slack, trying to process the words that had just come out of his sister’s mouth. “Since when were you the motivational speech kind of person?” 

“Maybe I just never wasted any on you,” she sniped, pulling a face. 

“Sometimes, I think ‘hey, maybe AJ isn’t an asshole’, and then you open your mouth and surprise me.” 

“Sometimes _I_ think ‘hey, maybe Ky isn’t an idiot’, and then you open your mouth and surprise _me.”_

Their bickering faded to white noise as I grabbed my guitar and pulled the strap over my head. AJ’s speech was pretty damn good, but the cherry on top was the words of someone else.

_You don’t need me to be brave, Lita._

I arrived in the wings just as Julie burst through the fire doors. She paused next to Flynn and me, holding out a pink dahlia. _“Signs.”_ She nodded firmly, before grabbing my hand and dragging me on stage with her. 

It didn’t matter how either of us got here, but we had definitely reached the same conclusion. We walked onto the stage hand in hand, with my other hand fiddling with my guitar strap out of quiet nerves. I took a deep breath and stood behind her. She didn’t say anything as the announcer introduced us, but she sent a look in my direction that I could read as clear as day. 

_Together?_

I nodded. 

_Together._

She stayed standing for a moment, and grabbed her mic from the stand above the piano. “Hi. I’m Julie, and this is my cousin Lita. Tonight we’d like to dedicate this song to my mom, who’s been there with me every time I’ve played, and thank her for not giving up on me.” 

I made eye contact with my mom, where she was standing next to Uncle Ray and Carlos, all of whom were filled with pride. I shot her a smile which she gladly returned, along with a quick wink and a mouthed, “Knock ‘em dead.” 

Julie handed over the mic to me with a nod, and I knew that we were on the same page. “We’d also like to dedicate tonight’s performance to three special friends… who have changed our lives completely in such a short period of time… It was their dream to play here, and this is for them.”

I gave her the mic back and Julie continued. “This song is for anyone who’s lost their way. Step into your greatness. Don’t give up. Stand tall. Thank you.” 

The audience applauded and Julie put her mic back in the stand, giving me another nod as she started to play the intro on the piano. I held my guitar strap, knowing that it would come in later, after Jules and I had done the first verse with only the piano. 

_“Don’t blink, no, I don’t want to miss it,”_ Julie started, smiling at me. _“One thing and it’s back to the beginning.”_

I continued with, _“‘Cause everything is rushing in fast, keep going on, never look back,”_ before we both sang together.

_And it’s one, two, three, four times_

_That I’ll try for one more night_

_Light a fire in my eyes_

_I’m going out of my mind_

_Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing_

_I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall_

_Whatever happens even when everything’s down_

_I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall_

_I gotta keep on dreaming_

_‘Cause I gotta catch that feeling_

_Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing I’ma stand tall_

And just when we thought we were okay, the impossible happened, and we became a thousand times better. _Alex_ poofed onto the stage with his drum kit, joining in perfectly in time and smiling. 

I almost missed my cue for the next verse, I was too busy staring in shock and relief, and just before I came in _Reggie_ poofed in with his bass. Both the guys were in fancy suits I’d not seen before, but they looked otherwise unharmed and pretty damn thrilled to be here. 

_Right now, I’m loving every minute_

_Hands down, can’t let myself forget it, no_

_‘Cause everything is rushing in fast_

_Keep holding on, never look back_

_And it’s one, two, three, four times_

Luke poofed in. And out. And in. He flickered, struggling to get here, his face twisted in concentration. I swung my guitar around to my front and joined in early, desperate for any way to tether him, to keep him here. 

_That I’ll try for one more night_

Julie and I pushed harder, almost as if we could keep him on the stage with our willpower alone. 

_Light a fire in my eyes_

He poofed out, almost for good…

And then Luke came back full force, with energy he’d gotten from god knows where as he sang, grinning. _“I’m going out of my mind.”_

I shot over from where I’d been playing my guitar next to Julie just as she broke away from the piano during Luke’s verse to take in the fact that _they were here_. 

_Whatever happens, even if I’m the last standing_

_I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall_

I joined in for the harmony with him, dividing my attention between the audience and the guys as I practically sang my heart out, _“Whatever happens even when everything’s down, I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall…”_

_I gotta keep on dreaming_

_‘Cause I gotta catch that feeling_

_Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing_

_I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall_

Julie took the next part, walking towards the part of the stage that stood out like a runway, Reggie behind her on bass and _killing it._

_Like I’m glowing in the dark_

_I keep on going when it’s all falling apart_

_Yeah, I know it with all my heart_

_Oooh, ooh, ooh_

Luke grinned at me, _“Never look back…”_

And the drum beat faded, letting Alex stand up for his solo. _“Whatever happens even when I’m the last standing, I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall…”_

Reggie was next, already back to his spot at the other mic stand, _“Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing, I’ma stand tall…”_

Then we all joined in… 

_I’ma stand tall_

_Stand tall_

_Stand tall_

And it felt like coming _home_ again. 

_Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing_

_I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall_

_Whatever happens even when everything’s down_

_I’ma stand tall, I’ma stand tall_

I let my guitar hang for a second, taking the mic from the stand and holding it out to Luke, leading him down to the center of the stage.

_I gotta keep on dreaming_

_‘Cause I gotta catch that feeling_

_Whatever happens even if I’m the last standing_

_I’ma stand tall_

We all got there at the same time, with Luke and Alex on one side of me, and Julie and Reggie on the other. 

_I’ma stand tall_

I changed which hand I was holding the mic in so I could grab Julie’s hand as Alex did the same to Luke and all of us raised our hands and took a bow. 

"We're gonna miss you," I said quietly.

“Not as much as we're gonna miss you,” Luke whispered on the way back up, before all three of the guys disappeared. 

Tears were streaming down my face and I’d barely realised it, but they were happy and hopeful and relieved and proud and… “Holy shit, we really just did that?” I looked to Julie for confirmation and her expression mirrored mine. 

“We just did that,” she laughed in disbelief. 

_We played the fucking Orpheum._

~

The rest of the night went by in a blur, and soon Ray, my mom (who’d surprisingly agreed to stay the night at Ray’s house, ghosts or no ghosts), Julie, Carlos and I were on our way home. Ky was uploading footage from the show to YouTube, and he’d managed to get _Nick’s_ number to get the video from his phone as well for a separate angle. Although I think he just wanted his number anyway, but at least now he had an excuse to ask for it. 

AJ seemed to be texting me at least once every ten minutes with different variations of “YOU KILLED IT” and “HOLY FUCK THAT WAS THE COOLEST CONCERT I’VE EVER BEEN TO”, and honestly I was okay with that, because I felt a little like replying every time “YES OH MY GOOD WE REALLY PLAYED THE FUCKING ORPHEUM TONIGHT”. 

I was still in shock a little, I think. 

But it helped that Ray, my mom and Carlos had insisted on singing Stand Tall _all_ the way back in the car, _and_ Julie called Flynn and put her on speakerphone while I did the same with Ky and AJ so there were literally eight of us singing at one point. I couldn’t tell if it was actually getting light outside by the time we got back, or if it was just the fancy little lights that decorated the outside of the Molina house. 

Ray ended up going in the house first, since my mom was still hesitant, but Carlos caught us before he went inside. “Hey,” he sent a pointed look in our direction as Julie handed him the dahlia for safekeeping. “Can I talk to you two for a second?” 

“Yeah, just give us a minute,” Julie replied, glancing towards the studio. I caught what she meant instantly and backed her up, already thinking the same thing. 

“We’re just gonna put my guitar back in the studio, okay?” I reassured him. 

Carlos shrugged, “Okay, I’ll wait up.” And then with an overexaggerated wink— “Don’t _ghost_ me!” 

I blinked, turning to Julie to make sure she’d just seen the same thing I had. Yeah, okay that seemed like a problem for _tomorrow._ Or maybe it was tomorrow already. Either way, it was a problem for later. 

Julie opened the doors and I followed her inside, gently laying my guitar case down by the couch. I put an arm around her shoulders and leant my head against her with a sigh. “I’m gonna miss them,” I whispered.

“Me too. I…” She gathered the courage to speak. “I know I already said this but, uh… thank you, guys.” 

“You’re welcome,” Reggie replied.

“Dude!” Luke groaned, and the exclamation was followed by what sounded like Reggie getting swatted in the arm. 

Wait. 

_Hold on a second._

Julie tore away from me and turned on the light to reveal the three guys collapsed half on top of each other next to the piano as purple light ripped through them. “Why… why are you here?” She stumbled over her words, unable to process it. 

I stared at them, “You were supposed to cross over! I thought—”

Another jolt hit them and I cut myself off mid-sentence as they spluttered from the residual effect. _No. This couldn’t be happening._

“I thought you crossed over,” Julie panicked. “Why didn’t you cross over?” 

Alex put a hand on the amp to haul himself up from the ground, clutching his stomach and wincing in pain from the effort. “I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business,” he choked out the words. 

Reggie leant against one of the chairs, tearstained and exhausted as he muttered with as much venom as I’d ever seen from him, “Point. Caleb.” 

Luke pulled himself up into a sitting position, “We wanted you to think that we crossed over, so we pretended to. We just… we had nowhere else to go.” 

“We thought you’d go straight to bed,” Reggie admitted. “Please don’t tell AJ, I want her to think it worked.” 

“Yeah, well,” Alex groaned, cutting himself off for a moment before he tried to speak again. “I knew they were gonna come down here but no one ever listens to—”

Another jolt hit them and any progress they’d made at getting off the ground was all but completely reversed. Alex curled in on himself, one arm still resting on top of the amp, and Luke stumbled sideways as Reggie wrapped his arm around the chair for support. 

I couldn’t do anything but watch. 

“You have to save yourselves, right now!” Julie pleaded. “Join Caleb’s club, _please,_ it’s better than not existing at all!”

“We can figure it out later,” I urged them to go, “Just join him now and we’ll figure something out. _Please._ Poof out, do something, _anything.”_

Luke used the piano to get to his feet as Reggie shook his head despondently. “We’re not going back there.” 

Luke walked towards us on unsteady legs, his eyes filled with tears. “No music is worth making, if we’re not making it with you. No regrets.” 

I’m not sure what made me do it, really. Maybe it was like an unconscious leap of faith or something. Who knows. Maybe I was just hoping this was all a dream, and if I woke up tomorrow everything would be fine, and Caleb wouldn’t exist, and the guys wouldn’t be fading out of existence while Julie and I were forced to watch. But somehow, a switch clicked in my brain and I let go of every doubt, every hesitation I had, and threw myself into Luke’s arms. 

“I love you guys.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on as tight as I could, barely able to think, to focus, to breathe… “Don’t go,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

“You know if we had a choice, we’d choose you,” he whispered back.

“Guys?” Julie asked, her voice filled with uncertainty. Then she spoke again, more insistent. _“Guys.”_

“What do you—” I trailed off, suddenly realising what I was actually doing. I pulled away, my hands still cupping Luke’s face. “How—what—why—” My hands slid down his arms until I reached his hands, taking them in mine. “How is this— how is this happening? If I’m dreaming right now I’m going to be _so_ pissed…” 

“I don’t know,” Luke stared at the point of contact, squeezing my hands in disbelief. “I feel stronger?”

“I don’t…” Julie trailed off, reaching for the others, “Alex, Reggie, can you come…” They were already on their way over, and Reggie got there first. Julie grabbed his hand and when she realised it worked, she pulled him in for a hug. I grabbed Alex when he arrived and wrapped my arms around his middle, my head slotted under his chin as Luke joined the two group hugs together. “I love you guys,” she whispered. “We love you guys.” 

“We really fucking do,” I confirmed. 

When we broke apart, the air between us shimmered.

“Woah…” Reggie blinked. “I don’t feel as weak anymore.” 

Alex nodded, “Me neither. Not that, you know, I was ever that weak.” 

Luke chuckled weakly, wincing as he held out his wrist. Reggie and Alex did the same and what appeared to be a purple mark appeared on the inside of their wrists, before it lifted up and disappeared. “What the fuck?” I spluttered.

“What do you think that means?” Julie asked in disbelief. 

Luke smiled in relief, his voice shaky as he replied, “I think the band’s back.” 

Alex’s lips curled up in a smile, “You guys think we could try that hug thing one more time?” 

“Yeah,” Reggie nodded, grabbing both Luke and I by the shoulders until we were all clinging to each other again. 

I let out a breath, barely able to comprehend what was happening. “You know how this happened, right?” I whispered, my face breaking into a grin. 

“How?” Reggie asked.

_“The power of motherfucking friendship!”_ I announced triumphantly. 

“Oh my god,” Alex groaned. 

~

As it turned out, it wasn’t early enough for the sun to have been rising when we got back from the Orpheum, but it was now. Julie and I had gone inside with the intention of sneaking back out, but it was already pretty late. We could also hear Carlos snoring from his room so resolved to talk to him about the ghost thing first thing tomorrow. Almost immediately after saying goodnight to her dad and my mom, Julie had managed to sneak back into my room and was now sitting on my bed, carefully unwinding the strands of coloured ribbon braided into her hair for the performance. 

My notebook sat on the bed next to us as she hummed Perfect Harmony under her breath and I let the song change to _Shelter_ by The Satellite Station. 

_Whispers in the wind_

_Fires in the street_

“So,” Julie raised an eyebrow expectantly. “What are you gonna do about Luke?” 

_Echoes of a sound_

_Falling underneath_

I pulled a face, “I have no idea what you mean.” 

“Don’t do that. I see right through you.” 

“Dammit.” 

_Running scared, shut it down_

_Lock it up, be prepared_

“You’re very clearly into him. He’s very clearly into you…” She trailed off. “And now there’s the whole tangibility thing. What’s stopping you?” 

_Quiet now, not a sound_

_What if they hear?_

“He’s still a ghost,” I pointed out.

“A ghost that you can now _touch_ ,” Julie countered. 

_Every little word_

_Every little spark_

“Who probably doesn’t like me like that,” I sighed.

“Bullshit, and you know it.” 

That was a first, Julie _never_ swears.

_I see it in their eyes,_

_It’s falling from their tongues_

“That’s…” I struggled to find the right word and ended up settling for “Incorrect…” 

She raised an eyebrow accusingly and thumbed back a few pages to pull out a piece of paper that had been tucked inside. “Consider this an Uno reverse card.” 

_Hold me close, breathing slow_

_Racing heart, laying low_

_Tell me when will the world make sense again?_

I reluctantly picked up the piece of paper from the bed. It definitely wasn’t my handwriting, that’s for sure. I pressed pause on my music and read through the words.

_Can we fall in love just to see what it would be?_

_Can we write a future, complement our history?_

_Can we lose and find ourselves along the way?_

_Can we figure out what it means for me to stay?_

_I’ve been thinking about the first day we met_

_And how I already knew you then_

_I’ve been thinking about how we let it all fall down_

_You walked right through me_

_But now we’re on solid ground_

_I’ve been waiting for the right moment_

_But stupid things always got in the way_

_I wish that I could hold you_

_Oh, I wish that I could stay_

_I don’t know what love is,_

_But I know I’m falling into it with you_

_I don’t need to breathe_

_But you take my breath away, a dream come true_

_I might be dead_

_But you make me feel alive_

_You put a spark inside my mind_

_And you bring me back to life_

_I’ve been waiting for the right moment_

_But stupid things always got in the way_

_I wish that I could hold you_

_Oh, I wish that I could stay_

“Unrequited, my ass,” Julie folded her arms. “It’s very clearly a love song.” 

“It’s not about me, it can’t be…” I trailed off, thinking back to how nervous Luke was acting when he returned the book. I thought it was because he’d seen Perfect Harmony… 

“You’re even. You wrote a song, he wrote a song. Now, what are you gonna do about it?” She gestured towards the open window. “For god's sake, _go.”_

Almost without realising, I pressed play on my headphones as I walked towards the window and eased myself out, the song from before still playing. 

_Oooh, is this the end? Oooh, is this the end?_

I dropped the final few feet and dusted myself off, making my way towards the studio. As I drew closer, Luke poofed outside, wringing his hands. He froze when he saw me, like he hadn’t really been expecting it. To be fair, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing here either. 

_And I just want you to know that I’ll love you forever_

_No matter where this train may go, we will go there together_

“Hey,” I shifted awkwardly, running my fingers up and down the sleeve of my hoodie. 

“Hey,” Luke replied, equally as nervous as he scratched the back of his neck. 

_And I just want you to know that I’ll be your shelter_

I hovered for a second, wondering how I’d be able to cope if I reached for him and my hand passed through. Only one way to find out. A leap of faith? Well, something like that. I practically threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his shirt. 

_As long as my lungs still hold air, I will hold you forever_

He let out a short gasp of surprise before reciprocating the gesture, pulling me closer to him. Neither of us moved for a few moments. “Not that I’m not enjoying this, but why—”

“Just checking I still can,” I explained, pulling away to look at him. “Because if I can do that, there’s nothing stopping me from doing this.” His features creased in a frown, trying to work out what I was thinking as the music in my earbud finished a verse and started a crescendo. Before I gave him the chance, I took the second leap of faith, except this time it was less of a leap and more of a step. I closed the distance between us and curled my fist in his shirt, tugging his lips down to meet mine. 

_I don’t want to fall, I don’t want to fall asleep_

_‘Cause I don’t know what I’ll find, when I wake up in the morning_

_I don’t want to fall, I don’t want to fall asleep_

_‘Cause I don’t know what I’ll find, when I wake up in the morning_

_And I just want you to know that I’ll love you forever_

_No matter where this train may go, we will go there together_

_And I just want you to know that I’ll be your shelter_

_As long as my lungs still hold air, I will hold you forever_

When we broke apart finally, barely able to believe what had just happened, Luke let out a quiet breath and smiled softly. “Not sure if it worked,” he whispered. “Should probably try again.” 

“Dork,” I laughed, standing on the tips of my toes to tease him. 

“You love it,” he replied, smirking. 

“Maybe I do.” 

_And I just want you to know that I’ll love you forever_

_No matter where this train may go, we will go there together_

_And I just want you to know that I’ll be your shelter_

_As long as my lungs still hold air, I will hold you forever_

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaah so that's the end of julita s1! i'm definitely gonna continue this when s2 is released (if we don't get a s2 i will fight netflix myself) but i'm also considering doing a spec fic in the same universe! i call this the 'Julitaverse' fyi, so if you want to keep an eye out for that i'll publish it in this series :)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna warn you in advance, you're probably going to see a lot of Vistas references, because I am recently obsessed and their music is amazing.


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